A World of Neither Light or Dark
by Wolf123678
Summary: With nothing else to lose, Lieutenant Commander Lara Barrett signs on to a mission that could potentially save the galaxy in the hope of either finding a purpose in life or ending her life on the battlefield, the only home that she knows. The only thing that she didn't expect was to find some sort of connection between herself and the famous Bastila Shan.
1. Endor Spire

"The mandalorians have rampaged across the galaxy long enough! Those who want to stop them follow me!"

...

"Ma'am, their lines are breaking!"

"Good. Send the Twenty Third Fighter Group into the left flank then have the Second Cruiser Squadron follow them in. Let me know when they cut the mandalorian's battle line in half."

"Yes ma'am!"

...

"Alek, something drove the mandalorians to attack."

"We don't know that for sure. And they didn't seem like they cared about anything other than slaughtering whoever they came across."

"What about the signal that we found on Mandalor's flagship that originated from uncharted space?"

"Probably a scouting party looking for more people to kill."

"Not that far out. It has to be something else. I'm taking the Third Recon and Fifth Star Destroyer Flotillas out there to find out what's sending that signal."

"Fine. If it's bugging you that much then I'll come with you."

...

"Welcome to my home, Jedi."

"You and your followers shouldn't even exist! How did any of you survive the purge?"

"You and your companion shall soon find out… my new apprentices."

...

"You can not win this Revan!"

"Please don't do this Bastila. I don't want to fight you."

"Then surrender."

"I can't. This is something that I— MALAK NO!"

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Lara Barrett

0517 ship time

I jerked awake covered in a cold sweat. Groaning, I rubbed my temples as a stabbing pain made itself known in my head. As I tried to overcome the pain of my headache I took in my surroundings. The spartan grayish-white metal walls of my quarters yielded little to distract me from my pain. Twisting around, I looked through one of the two windows and was met with the pale blue glow of hyperspace. I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly before throwing my covers off of myself. I turned around so that I was sitting with my legs crossed and facing the window. I fell into a light meditation as I tried to overcome my headache and ponder my dreams.

Unclear and disjointed images and sentences drifted through my mind. People and places that I'd never seen before, parts of battles that I'd never fought in, conversations that I never had. Very little made sense to me. I was a country girl from an Outer Rim backwater planet who was quick with a blaster and quicker with a blade. I'd joined the Republic military during the Mandalorian Wars and was put into an elite recon unit called the Shadow Scouts. Most of the Shadow Scouts had been wiped out at Malachor IV and the survivors had been split up until Revan betrayed the Republic. When Revan attacked the Shadow Scouts had been reformed and thrown into the fight.

I grimaced as I remembered some of the battles that I'd fought in. The battlefields that I'd fought on against the mandalorians were little more than meat grinders and the battles against the Sith were almost as bad. My experience from the Mandalorian Wars under Revan's direct command had been invaluable to the Republic, most notably my ability to think like Revan herself, and had earned me my current rank of lieutenant commander. I sighed as I found myself unable to sort through the random memories in my head. At least my headache's finally gone down though.

I got off of my bed and stretched some of the kinks out of my back. Clad in nothing but my panties and a bra I wandered over to the small mirror set between the two footlockers on the left side of the room. A light snore reminded me of the other woman in the room. I glanced her way, but could only see a vaguely humanoid shape cocooned in bed covers. I turned back to the mirror and studied my reflection.

Two different colored eyes filled with a keen intelligence stared back. My left eye was dark brown, almost black, and my right eye was light blue, almost white, but both were haunted from the horrors of war. My face had a diamond shape, angular and slightly boney, with tanned skin. With my hair down the raven locks were long enough to brush my shoulders, barely within regulations for length.

My eyes continued down to my breasts. They certainty weren't small, but they weren't large either. More often than not I would hear men say how they were just the right size behind my back, but it didn't matter to me. Not many things mattered to me anymore. With my home turned to glass the only family that I had left were the Shadow Scouts, and all of the original members were dead except for me. The only thing that kept me alive so far was my duty to the Republic. I would complete any mission given to me with the utmost efficiency, but I would always hope for that one lucky blaster bolt or knife blade to find its way through my defenses. A sigh slipped through my lips before I pushed all thoughts to the side and started to dress myself.

Unlike the standard uniforms that most Republic grunts had to wear I could wear Shadow Scout combat fatigues. Combat boots, green cargo pants, a green camo long sleeve, and a green field hat. I quickly put my fatigues on, pausing to pull my hair into a bun before putting my hat on, then grabbed my utility belt. I clipped my belt on and made sure that my holster was within easy reach and that my knife was at the small of my back. Then I pulled on a brown leather jacket with another knife attached to the left shoulder next to the collar.

Fully dressed, I looked into the mirror one last time. My eyes were inevitably drawn towards the deep scar on my right cheek where a piece of shrapnel had almost torn half my face off. A shiver ran through me as I remembered the boarding mission that'd been comprised half way though. The only reason that I was still alive was because a small Jedi team had been able fight through the Sith, reach the bridge, and get us out. Unfortunately, that wasn't before the bridge took fire from another vessel and had been critically damaged. One of the explosions had caught me and threw shrapnel all over my body. I couldn't remember much after the explosion but I did know that one of the Jedi had healed me and carried me out. I shook thoughts of the past from my mind and left my quarters for the mess hall.

I stepped out into the hallway, turned right, and started walking. I passed various crewmen and women along the way, each of them snapping a crisp salute as they passed me. Fortunately, that formality was dropped the moment I stepped through the door of the mess hall. My eyes instinctively swept the room. The mess hall was easily twenty meters by fifty meters and tables took up nearly all of the floor space except a long section on the left wall where the waiting line was. Almost everything was in the painfully standard grayish-white of most starships except the windows along the right wall. About two-thirds of the crew was in the mess hall with one shift ending and the next about to start. I fell in line with the rest of the crew waiting to get their breakfast or dinner.

As the line slowly shuffled along I could see many of the people sitting at the tables looking over at me and pointing at the emblem on my sleeves, a sniper crouched on the edge of a cliff, the emblem of the Shadow Scouts. I ignored all of them as I grabbed my breakfast, not even bothering to look at what I took. When my tray was full I left the line and made my way over to an empty table in the corner by a window. I sat with my back to the window and started mechanically shoving whatever was on my tray into my mouth.

As I ate I scanned the faces around me. Most of them were young, probably between eighteen and twenty-five. A few were older though, between thirty and forty. All of the older ones had the look of hardened veterans: the thousand-meter stare, the constant awareness of their surroundings, the slight tension in their shoulders, and the noticeable disconnect from the people around them except for those that they'd bled with. If things were to go to hell right now I knew which group of people would most likely walk out of this room alive.

I did recognize one of the veterans though, Carth Onasi. As the ship's executive officer, he'd given all the new crew members a tour of the Endor Spire before we set out. He stood roughly a hundred ninety centimeters tall with short swept back brown hair and light brown eyes. Some could say that he had a rugged handsomeness but, like most things, it didn't matter to me. Onasi must've noticed that I was looking at him because he turned and gave a small wave. I nodded and went back to eating. It was only then that I realized that I was eating something that resembled lasagna accompanied by mushy vegetables, something with the consistency of mashed potatoes that tasted like fish, and a pink juice drink.

I shrugged to myself and continued eating my meal. About half way though I sensed that someone was watching me. I paused to drink my juice and used that as an opportunity to scan my surroundings again. Most of the "night" shift were already gone and the "day" shift had replaced them. Sitting two tables up and one to the left was the small team of Jedi consisting of six sentients of various races, four humans, two of each gender, a ruby-orange twi'lek male, and a tan zabrak female, all commanded by the famous Bastila Shan. She was sitting at the end of the table, watching my every move.

The mission had been launched by the Jedi Council, meaning that every sentient and droid on board was under their command. But why she was watching me, I couldn't fathom. Shan was, in a single word, beautiful. Her lush brown hair was pulled back into two small pigtails but a couple loose locks hung free to frame her angelic face. Her hypnotic gray eyes held a confidence that seemed almost to border on arrogance. I guessed, like myself, she stood about a hundred seventy centimeters. She also held herself with an air of regality that demanded that people listen to her.

I set my drink down and met her eyes with a level gaze. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise but otherwise she didn't react. A whisper of a thought passed through my mind. Did she sense that I was watching her?

The thought confused me because Shan was watching me, not the other way around. That look of surprise returned to Shan's face. I blinked and suddenly found myself staring at… myself? A small gasp escaped me before I was looking at Shan again. I shook my head, feeling some sort of whiplash from… whatever the hell just happened. What the fuck was that? How the hell was I looking at myself from Shan's perspective?!

I looked back at Shan who had turned pale. I could almost feel the confusion rolling off of her with… fear mixed in. I groaned and broke eye contact with her as another stabbing headache overcame me. It quickly subsided and I decided to get the hell out of the mess hall before something else happened. I grabbed my tray, tossed my leftovers into the waste disposal, and left it for the kitchen staff to collect it before making my way to the exit. The entire time I could feel Shan's eyes burning a hole into my head until I was out the door.

I started down the hall going over everything that had happened in the mess hall to determine what the hell had happened between me and Shan. Nothing stood out to me that would explain the two of us somehow switch perspectives.

I growled in frustration and started towards the ship's training center on the starboard stern. I was barely a quarter of the way towards the training center when I somehow sensed that Shan was following me. I ignored her and continued on.

I reached the training center and immediately bypassed all of the weightlifting equipment in favor of the combat simulators. The close quarters battle simulator that I went to was ten meters in diameter and would drop a weak ray shield around it so that bystanders would be safe from any projectiles coming from the user. I activated the controlling console and inputted my preferred scenario: a compromised stealth Op with ten to twelve attackers coming from random directions with varying levels of skill. With the scenario established I stepped into the center of the simulator.

The ray shield dropped and I drew the knife on my shoulder. A moment later the first opponent appeared in front of me wearing standard Sith armor with their back to me. I approached him silently then grabbed his shoulder and jammed my knife into the side his neck, all the way to the hilt, cutting through the carotid arteries, the esophagus, and the windpipe in one stab. Before the nerves could relay to his brain that there was a knife in his neck I sliced forward, severing the esophagus and windpipe and cutting his neck in half. His death was quick and silent.

A shout came from my right. I turned and saw a Sith patrol coming at me with stun batons and vibroblades. I hurdled the knife in my hand at the lead Sith. The blade bounced off of his chest plate, but it had enough force behind it to stun him momentarily. I drew my second knife with my left hand in a reverse grip and my blaster with my right hand in the same motion and fired at the rear Sith, hitting three of them, before blocking the first attacker with my knife. The soldier tried to bare down on me with his superior strength and weight behind his sword, but didn't notice the muzzle of my blaster pressed against his kidney. In one smooth motion I fire, disengaged our blades, spun around his shoulder, and buried my knife into the base of his skull.

As I pulled my knife free I fired point blank into the next Sith's chest twice then again in the faceplate. I kicked him away and ran towards the next one. I ducked under his horizontal slash and stabbed him in his left shoulder. Keeping my momentum, I slipped under his left arm and jumped onto his back, wrapping my left leg around his torso and my right over his shoulder. I immediately brought my blaster to his head and fired twice straight down into his skull. The Sith fell to the ground, dragging me with it. I threw myself forward, making the body fall forward, and untangled my legs from it in a forward roll to land in a half crouch with the corpse behind me. I twisted around and fired at the other four Sith, hitting one in the chest and another in the leg and arm. I turned my blaster to the next Sith but it clicked empty, the energy cell was depleted.

The two Sith standing had vibroblades and the one on the ground had a stun baton. I backed away from the still living Sith, towards the dead ones, while dropping my empty blaster. The two living ones must of thought that without my weapons that I was scared and charged me, just what I wanted them to do.

The lead one tried to stab me, but I spun around him. The second one swung at me as if his vibroblade was a club. I dove under his blade and rolled, coming to a stop in front of two blades that had been dropped. I grabbed them and spun to meet the last two standing Sith simulations, the left blade in a reverse grip and the right in a standard hold. A loud gasp brought my attention to outside of the simulator. A large crowd was watching me, probably half the day shift and almost all of the Jedi, including Shan. My attention was forced back to my opponents as they charged me.

I met the charge and blocked both of their attacks, one overhead and the other horizontal. I kicked the one on the left in the chest and swung that blade at the other. He quickly disengaged and moved back. I followed him, spinning my body so that both my blades battered down on his one after another. The Sith's strength quickly faded and I broke his defense. My right blade glanced off of his helmet but my left blade bit deep into his shoulder, in the vulnerable space where his shoulder guard ended at his neck. Using my blade as a fulcrum I vaulted over the trooper in front of me, dislodging the blade as I landed, and let the one that had been charging me from behind hit him. I kicked the first trooper into the second and swiftly decapitated the second one before he could throw his dead counterpart off of himself.

I turned to the last Sith trooper, the one that I'd shot in the arm and leg. As I approached he tried to crawl away before holding his stun baton out to protect himself when he realized that he couldn't get away. I brought one blade down on his baton, slowly but surely forcing it down. He struggled against me until I kicked him in the cod piece. It distracted him long enough for me to force the stun baton against his chest, sending thousands of volts through his body. I watched his body spasm before swiftly cutting through his neck. An alarm droned then all the Sith bodies faded away and the ray shield dropped.

Almost immediately I was swarmed by young Republic troops asking me a million questions. They asked me things like: Where did I train? How was I trained? Was I really the last Shadow Scout? How did someone join the Shadow Scouts? Could I take over as the hand-to-hand instructor? One kid actually asked me on a date. Eventually someone shouted, "OFFICER ON DECK!"

Instantly every member of the Republic military silenced themselves. For a moment almost every foot stomped as one unified echoing thud in the training center as everyone came to swift attention, waiting for the inevitable arrival of the officer. A path to the entrance opened to reveal Captain Aiden Myers. The Captain was an older human male who, interestingly enough, only spoke Huttese due to the fact he had grown up as a slave to some minor Hutt. He stood an imposing two hundred fifteen centimeters, putting him well above most people. His steel gray hair was cut in a typical military square top and his blue eyes held a depth that only comes from life experience. He started towards me, walking with a noticeable limp. Captain Myers stopped in front of me and, before I could salute him, he saluted me. Surprised, I returned his salute.

"I had heard that the last original member of the Shadow Scouts had been assigned to my ship. I apologize for not greeting you when you came aboard, Lieutenant Commander."

It seemed that the Captain was a fan of the Shadow Scouts, though obviously not because of Republic propaganda like the mob that'd swarmed me. I wasn't sure how to respond so I said, "It's alright, Sir."

He nodded and turned to the rest of the crew. "The show is over crewmen. Let's give the Lieutenant Commander the space she desires." Almost instantly all the crewmen and women assembled scattered as they went back to what they were doing or to where they needed to be. The Captain turned back to me and held his hand out to shake mine. I took his hand and he clasped mine with both of his. I looked up at him in confusion and he said, "My niece served with the Shadow Scouts at Malachor IV. She was my whole world after her parents died."

I bowed my head, in respect to his niece and grief over the dead. Captain Myers clapped me on the shoulder, causing me to look back up at him. "None of that, LC," he said gently but firmly. "It was the proudest moment of my life when May joined the Scouts. And it still is the proudest moment of my life."

May, I tried to remember that name. A cloud settled over my mind before I suddenly remembered exactly who his niece was. "Your niece was May Saraas." He nodded. "She saved my life twice. She pulled me to safety when I'd taken shrapnel in my leg and again when a mandalorian was about to impale me."

Captain Myers nodded again, smiling. "Yes, she mentioned both of those incidents in her messages. I would like you to know that I don't blame you for her death, Lieutenant Commander. She died a hero of the Republic. Now, I've taken enough of your time. As you were."

"Yes, Sir," I said as he left. As Captain Myers walked towards the exit I turned and started collecting my blaster and knives.

After sheathing my last knife, I sensed that someone was watching me again. I scanned the room and saw Shan a short distance away watching me. She flinched slightly when my eyes landed on her, but she gave no other response. Why the hell is she watching me? What does she want? Determined to get an answer, I started marching towards her. A look of indecision crossed her face, as if her were trying to decide if she would talk to me or try and make a break for it; it vanished as I stopped in front of her, replaced by a calm and emotionless mask.

"Why are you following me?" I demanded

She looked me up and down, her eyes lingering briefly on the knife on my shoulder. "You resemble a woman I once saved. I watched you to see if you were her."

Her voice was calm and clear, colored by a Talravin accent.

"That doesn't really answer my question. And if you really wanted to know, you could've just asked me instead of stalking me."

A brief look of discomfort slipped through her mask. Obviously, she wasn't accustomed to someone not bowing down to her authority or my accusation of her stalking me. "I… suppose that is true. I was a member of a small Jedi team sent to… sent to rescue a group of Republic commandos trapped on a Sith ship. One of the officers had been caught in an explosion and nearly died. She would have if I had not brought her back from the brink of death."

I was shocked. Disbelief overrode me as she spoke. The only thing that I could say after she finished was, "That was you…"

Shan frowned slightly, a guarded look across her face. "What do you mean?"

"You saved me. You were the one that healed me and carried me off of that Sith ship." I winced and rubbed my temple as a burst of pain flared in my head. "I guess I should thank you. Though, part of me wishes that you would've left me to die."

"What do you mean?" she asked again.

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. What happened between us in the mess hall?"

Shan paled slightly before saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I narrowed my eyes as I scrutinized her. "Yes you do. You gasped the moment you realized the I was seeing things from your eyes. And for some reason I could almost feel the confusion rolling off of you when I was looking through my eyes again." As I spoke Shan became paler and paler until she was as white as the walls.

"How…" she muttered.

"How did any of that happen? I've got no fucking clue. You're the Jedi, Knight Shan. What do you think?"

She was silent for a long while before tentatively saying, "I… I may have a theory but… it could be incredibly dangerous to myself, and you, if it became common knowledge."

"What's your theory?" I asked as I crossed my arms and rested my weight on my back foot.

Before Shan could say anything a voice behind me called out, "Knight Shan, Master Tas would like to speak with you."

I turned and saw the twi'lek Jedi coming towards us. "Thank you, Knight Kree," Shan said. "I will depart immediately."

I held up my hand, stopping Shan from slipping around me. "I want to know what your theory is, Knight Shan. If whatever's going on between us puts you in danger, then it could threaten the Republic war effort. That cannot be allowed to happen. I'll try and find you later."

Shan nodded mutely then practically fled the room. I glanced over at the twi'lek Jedi and saw that he was giving me an odd look. It seemed as if he were trying to see inside of me. I pushed him from my mind and went back to the combat simulator for more CQB practice.

* * *

Jedi Knight Bastila Shan

0603 ship time

Silently thanking the Force for Knight Kree's almost perfectly timed intervention, I nearly ran out of the Endor Spire's training center. Once I was a few corridors away I leaned against the wall, banging the back of my head against it. I groaned in frustration, wishing that I was anywhere in the galaxy except for this ship. "Damn it, Shan," I muttered to myself. "What the bloody hell were you thinking, bringing up that mission."

I shook my head and pushed myself off of the wall. I started down the corridor again, mentally reciting the Jedi Code to myself. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. I let sense of peace that the code alway brought wash over me and cleanse me of my emotions. When I reached Master Tas's quarters and paused for a moment to press the doorbell. There was a slight pause Master Tas's voice drifted through the door. "You may enter, Bastila."

I opened the door and stepped inside. The room was as bare and spartan as most military vessels were. The room was four meters by six meters and had a narrow window opposite of the door. Two alcoves in the side walls served as beds with storage for clothing and other personal items located above and below the beds. Past the beds were two desks, also built into the walls. Master Tas sat at the desk on the right reading a data pad.

As the only zabrak Jedi on board, Master Tas stood out amongst our group. She stood about hundred seventy-five centimeters tall and her crown of horns added another two centimeters to her total height. Her skin was a slightly darkened tan and more leathery than a regular human's. Her brown eyes held a kindness that the war with the Sith had yet to take away. She turned and gave me a small, tired smile. "Thank you for coming, Bastila."

"Of course, Master. Knight Kree said that you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes. Please sit," Master Tas said as she gestured towards the other desk chair. Once I'd sat down Master Tas continued, "This morning at breakfast I sensed a slight disturbance in the Force originating from Lara Barrett. Could you shed any light on this occurrence?"

"Yes, Master. I believe that the Leftenant Commander sensed that I was watching her in the mess hall. When she did she focused, most likely all, her attention on me. Soon after I felt… another mind brush against my own. The presence of the mind felt similar to the Leftenant Commander. Barrett later approached me in the training center and I learned that she somehow managed to see what I was looking at."

Master Tas nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. "Interesting. Very interesting. I read the after action report on the mission that lead you to save the Lieutenant Commander, Bastila. We both know that you formed a Force bond with her when you brought her back from the brink of death. So what is it that troubles you so much?"

"I did not expect her to be able to sense me or manipulate the Force. Neither did I expect her to remember the explosion."

"All life is rich in the Force, Bastila. As a Jedi you know this. As for the explosion, people do not forget about a traumatic experience easily, but they rarely remember everything."

"Yes, Master," I said, bowing to her greater wisdom.

Master Tas was quiet for a moment before saying, "Something else bothers you, does it not?"

I cringed slightly before nodding. "Yes. I… I just don't know how to act around her, Master. Barrett is so similar to Revan before she fell, yet she seems to be someone else too. And underneath everything she seems so… broken."

Master Tas nodded slowly with a sad look on her face. "Lara Barrett has lived a hard life. Her home world was turned to glass by heavy bombardment from the mandalorian fleets when they invaded, everyone and everything she held dear was destroyed. From there she joined the Republic military and was put into the direct action and long range reconnaissance patrol unit known as the Shadow Scouts. Barrett quickly rose through the ranks and distinguished herself as one of the best operators within the Shadow Scouts and was put into their flagship team, Shadow One, but as the war dragged on she lost many friends and comrades.

"It all came to a head at Malachor IV. Several Shadow Scout units, including Shadow One, were sent to create a diversion for the Jedi Exile. Shadow One alone sustained seventy percent casualties but managed to wipe out two full companies." I gasped, realizing just how bad that fight must have been. The mandalorians were notorious for fighting savagely and the Shadow Scouts were among the most elite within the Republic military. That would've made the battlefield little more than a meat grinder for both sides.

"After the battle psychologists detailed that many of the Scouts were badly scarred psychologically, but something in Barrett seemed to have broke during the combat and she became almost overly protective with the remaining original member of Shadow One. After the war ended she disappeared for a time before coming back when Revan attacked. Since then the rest of her comrades have died and her psychologist says that she has a mildly suicidal outlook on her own life. Barrett herself said that she would complete any mission given to her but would hope for death during the mission."

"That explains why she wished that I hadn't saved her," I said quietly.

Master Tas nodded gravely. "Yes… Treat her as you would any other sentient, Bastila. But, be gentle with her as a part of her is broken."

"I shall, Master," I said as I bowed in my seat. "Will that be all?"

"Yes, Bastila," Master Tas said with a tired smile. "I would suggest getting to know the Lieutenant Commander because of the bond that you two share."

"I will try, Master," I said as I stood.

"That is all that I ask. We will arrive at Taris for resupply and to deliver reinforcements to the Tarisian garrison tomorrow morning, approximately zero-four hundred ship time."

"I understand." I left Master Tas's quarters and wandered down the hall, going over everything that I'd learned about Lara Barrett. Suddenly a burst of pain erupted from my left side causing me to stumble. More pain flared across my arms as if I were trying to block an attacker. Then an explosion of pain erupted from my cheek, making the corridor to spin. Several more invisible blows rained down on my body until they suddenly stopped.

I blinked and saw a Republic trooper in front of me, he looked like the hand-to-hand combat instructor. My eyes scanned the training center floor, looking for the dummy knife that I dropped. Wait… training center?! My eyes snapped back to my opponent as he said, "You Shadow Scouts really are good."

I blinked again and I was staring down the corridor to Master Tas's quarters. "So that's what she experienced," I muttered. I pressed my hand against my side, yet felt nothing. I must have somehow felt the blows that Barrett took through the bond. She was right. We do need to speak about the bond between us.

With a clear goal in mind, I started towards the training center. Along the way I felt many more strikes that Barrett took, but I was prepared this time and blocked myself off from that part of her. I could still feel the blows and pain, but from Barrett's body not my own. I reached the entrance to the training center and looked around. There, at the sparing rings, was a crowd gathered around one ring. As I approached there was a loud thump then rapid tapping. From inside the circle came Barrett's smooth and cool voice, "Looks like you're no longer undefeated, Chief Petty Officer."

"I knew that this day would come sooner or later, Commander. I'm just glad that I didn't lose to one of these FNGs," came the hand-to-hand instructor's gruff voice.

"Can't blame you for that, Chief. Alright people! Clear out!"

The crowd slowly dispersed until only Barrett remained. During breakfast I'd noticed a number of crewmen practically drooling over the Lieutenant Commander, and I honestly can't blame them. Looking at her I could see what others saw: a beautifully exotic woman with a perfectly proportioned body honed into a lethal weapon. Undoubtedly men were lining up to try and coax Barrett out of her shell and form some sort of relationship with her. For some reason the thought of someone getting close to Barrett caused a bad feeling in my gut. Barrett turned, saw me, and started walking towards me.

"Knight Shan. Are you ready to share your theory?"

"Yes, but it is not something that should be discussed in a public setting."

"My quarters are hot-bunked so they're out of the question. And just about every other space onboard has at least two people in it at any given time."

I sighed in mild annoyance, realizing that she was right. The only place besides the Captain's or Executive Officer's quarters for privacy would be one of the rooms given to myself and the rest of the Jedi. "We can use my quarters. I believe that my roommate will not be there for some time."

"Alright. Lead the way." I nodded and started for the exit.

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Lara Barrett

0617 ship time

As we walked through the corridors I went over everything that had happened between myself and Shan ever since I first saw her when I came onboard yesterday. I'd caught a brief look at her when I got on the Spire and recognized her from the Republic propaganda. I saw her again at dinner, but nothing crazy had happened. Shan stopped and I noticed that we'd reached the quarters for the Jedi. She opened the door on the left and motioned for me to enter.

Stepping through the doorway I briefly scanned the room. It was a standard VIP quarters for two people in a military vessel. Two alcove beds, two desks built into the walls, and a tall but narrow window opposite to the door. Shan stepped past me and raised her hand. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt a… a wave of something pass through the room originating from Shan. The wave settled on the chairs at the desks before both rose slightly and turned until they faced each other. The chairs settled back on the ground as Shan said, "Please have a seat."

I nodded and sat down on the chair on the left and Shan took the other. "What's your theory, Knight Shan?"

She was quiet for a moment before asking, "What do you know of the Force?"

"Only that it's what all Jedi and Sith draw their power from and that it somehow influences everything that happens in the galaxy."

Shan nodded slowly. "Yes… that is correct, if a little simplified."

"What does the Force have to do with whatever's going on between us?"

"What do you know about Force bonds?"

I shook my head. "Not a damn thing. Is that what we have? A Force bond?"

Shan nodded, seeming to avoid catching my eye. "Yes. I believe that we share a Force bond."

"So what is it?" I asked as I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms.

"A Force bond is a connection between two people through the Force, basically their spirits join together. This usually occurs between a master and padawan who have been with each other for a very long time."

"So how did a Force bond form between us? Because last time I checked I've only met you twice."

Shan looked hesitant as she said, "It… it is not heard of for a bond to form… between two people if one saves another from… from the brink of death. It's the most explainable reason for our bond."

I shook my head in disbelief. "So I have this bond with you because you wouldn't let me die. Maybe I wanted to die? Did you think of that when you saved me?"

A distressed look over came Shan before she said, "Jedi hold all life sacred. It is against our beliefs to let someone die when we could save them."

I snorted before asking, "So where were the Jedi when the mandalorians were slaughtering us by the thousands? At least Revan and Malak came before it was too late."

Shan shook her head, a sad look on her face. "That is not what we are here to discuss. I am not sure how strong the bond between us is, but from what has happened between us today it must be quite strong. At breakfast you were able to see through my eyes and before I came to find you after speaking with Master Tas I could feel the blows that you took from, and inflicted to, the hand-to-hand instructor before I saw through your eyes as well."

"Wait a second," I said as I shook my head in disbelief. "You were able to feel the blows that I took in my spar with the Chief."

"Yes, as if I were being hit."

"Fuck," I muttered. "So that means that you'd be able to feel any type of wound that I receive. Does that mean that you'll also take damage?"

"I do not believe so. While I am able to feel your pain, I do not receive a physical wound. However… I am unsure as to what will happen if one of us… dies."

I froze as the meaning of what Shan had said sank in. "So if one of us dies, the other might die too?" I asked as I looked Shan in the eye.

Shan had an incredibly uncomfortable look as she said, "I… I honestly do not know. Nothing that I have read or heard has said what would happen. All that I ask is that you be careful, just as I will."

"So I have to stay alive so that you can stay alive," I said neutrally.

"I believe so," Shan said with a hint of uncertainty.

I slumped down in my seat, my head bowed over my hands. A small hurricane of anguish and regret swirled through me, each trying to overwhelm the other. "All I have to do… is stay alive," I muttered to myself.

Eventually one emotion overcame the other as Shan asked, "Barrett… Are you alright?"

I didn't answer. Instead I got up and walked over to the wall.

"Barrett?"

Quick as a lightning bolt, my fist lashed out and struck the wall with a resounding crack as a primal scream of anguish forced itself out of me. "Barrett!"

I slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor cradling my fist. Past experience let me know that the sharp, blazing pain in my hand meant that I'd probably broken a bone. A hand touched my shoulder, causing me to look up. Shan was crouched in front of me with a look of deep concern on her face, mixed with a small grimace of pain. "Are you alright, Barrett?"

I shook my head. "Not really," I said hoarsely.

I cleared my throat and said, "I'm not alright, Shan… I'm broken. Have been since Malachor.

"You've probably already read my personnel file so you know what the shrinks say about me. Something inside me broke during the fight for Malachor and since then the only thing that's kept me from pulling a trigger on myself is my duty to the Republic."

I chuckled darkly before continuing. "And now this bond between us guarantees that I can't pull a trigger on myself or let an enemy combatant kill me."

Shan was quiet for a moment before saying, "I know that nothing that I can say or do will bring back your comrades or family, but killing yourself is not the right answer. For now… Let's just get your hand healed."

She slowly reached out for my hand. When I didn't respond she gently took it and cradled it within her hands. Her hands were incredibly gentle, as if she were handling a priceless artifact; and they were as soft and smooth as Alderaanian silk, marred only calluses. The same pulse of energy from before came from Shan, but settled on my hand. I gasped as I felt the broken bone in my hand shifted slightly, but there was little to no pain. I could feel the bone knitting itself back together until the energy coming from Shan faded away.

"There," she said as she set my hand down. "Your hand will be a little tender for about a day, but it's fully healed." I nodded, feeling an odd sense of loss after Shan let my hand go.

"Thanks," I said quietly. "Don't worry about me, I'll keep myself alive."

I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly before pushing my sorrow aside. At least now I had some semblance of a reason to stay alive: keep Shan alive by staying alive. With that in mind I suppressed my emotions and let my SpecOp Commander mentality take over. "How much combat experience do you have, Shan?"

"What?" Shan asked, taken back by my sudden question.

"How much combat experience do you have?"

"I've fought in many battles over the past two years and have become a very proficient fighter."

I got back on my feet as I asked, "And how many of those battles did you fight without a lightsaber?"

"A few, when I was disarmed," Shan said while backed up slightly and crossed her arms.

"How effective were you without your primary weapon and no secondary?"

"Not… not very effective," she admit with difficulty.

I crossed my arms too as I said, "You need combat training then."

"What?!" Shan practically shouted in indignation.

"Jedi and Sith as a whole have become dependent on their lightsabers as their primary weapons to the point that they're the only weapons that they know how to use other than the force. That alone is the single most dangerous thing for any soldier to do."

"I am not a soldier. I am a Jedi," Shan said hauntingly.

"And how many ways can you kill a humanoid sentient without a lightsaber?"

She hesitated before grudgingly admitting, "Not that many without the Force."

"And that's how I've managed to kill four mandalorian Jedi and two dark Jedi without overwhelming firepower. I disarmed, crippled, then killed them before they knew that they were dead."

Shan seemed to debate with herself before sighing and saying, "You… you do have a point. Perhaps some of the techniques that you know could be beneficial in combat with the Sith."

"It's settled then, your training will begin immediately. Meet me in the training center in five to ten minutes." Shan nodded and I left her quarters. After I'd gone a few meters down the corridor I let my SpecOp Commander mentality fade. Almost immediately I was swamped with anguish and regret. Anguish that I couldn't escape from this nightmare of a life and regret that I'd even consider defiling the sacrifices that the Shadow Scouts had made for me and the Republic by wanting to end my life.

I paused and leaned against the wall. I scrubbed my face with my hands. I groaned softly, seeing the faces of the original members of Shadow One pass before my eyes. Each face brought back memories of good times with friends… and torment as I remembered each one of their deaths.

"-alright?" I glanced up and saw Commander Onasi standing in front of me. "You alright, Barrett?"

"Yeah," I said as I pushed off of the wall. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just… just remembering some things that I… that I wish I never went through."

A haunted look over came Onasi as her said, "I know what you mean."

I straightened and asked, "Is there something that you wanted, Commander?"

Onasi snapped himself out of his memories and said, "No, LC, as you were."

I gave him a salute and waited for him to return it before starting down the corridor again. I made my way through the ship to my quarters and entered quietly. Inside both beds were two men, both of them junior officers that I'd never met before. I ignored both of them and ghosted my way over to my locker. Without a sound I pulled out the smaller of two duffle bags holding my personal training equipment, shouldered the duffle, and left my quarters in total silence. With all that I'd need collected I started towards the training center again.

When I entered the training center I spotted Shan by an empty sparring ring in the far left corner. As I headed towards her I noted that Shan had removed her Jedi robe and was wearing the cream colored tunic and pants that most Jedi wore under their robes. Looking at her I couldn't help but admire how her tunic clung to her body. Shaking those thoughts from my head I nodded to Shan in greeting and set my duffle down a safe distance from the ring. I opened the bag and started pulling out my equipment. Soon two short practice swords, two folding long swords, an expandable staff, limb weights, and a variety of rubber knives were neatly laid out on the floor. "Pick your weapon of choice."

Shan almost immediately went for staff. "I assume that means that you favor the dual bladed lightsabers."

"Yes. I have found that the more unorthodox styles of the dual blade can confuse those who have only trained with regular light sabers." I nodded as I picked up a long sword and took off my field hat.

"Unfortunately for you, I do know how to counter a dual blade," I said as we entered the ring.

Shan hesitated before entering a ready stance. I got into my own ready stance and squared off with her. We stayed in place for several long moments before I started edging my way to the right. Shan noticed this and started moving to her right so that we were circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

In an instant I lunged at Shan with a controlled shoulder to hip slash. She parried it with the tip of her staff and swung the butt of her staff at my side. I leaped back from the staff then forward after it passed me. Shan continued the swing and spun with it so that she could try and stab me with the tip of her staff. I deflected her staff with the base of my blade and slid down the length of the staff until I was close enough to slash at her. Shan jumped back and we started circling each other again.

Shan attack this time with a barrage of fast strikes. I blocked most of her strikes and dodged the others until Shan overstepped. I took full advantage of her mistake and kicked her leg out from under her while at the same time I lashed out with my sword and struck her shoulder with enough force to leave a good bruise. I followed up with a light pommel strike to the face then a quick slash to the neck, stopping my blade before it could hit her neck, and resting it against her skin.

I lowered my sword and helped Shan to her feet. "You have a good stance and good control over your weapon. You also know how to use the unique design of a dual blade against an opponent. The main problem is that you follow only one style of combat."

Shan scowled slightly and said, "You only used sword techniques."

"Because I wanted to judge how much skill you hand with your main weapon against the most common weapon of your opponents. My preferred weapons are dual short swords."

Shan's scowl faded and she said quietly, "Yes, that makes sense."

I stepped out of the ring and replaced my long sword with the two shorter swords. I held both swords in standard grips and faced off with Shan again. She got into a ready stance and started circling to her left this time.

Instead of circling with her, I rushed her. She quickly blocked my first left horizontal slash then my right slash. She thrusted the tip of her staff at my chest, but I batted it away with my left sword. Using the redirected momentum of her staff, Shan spun the butt of the staff towards me. I rolled backwards into a crouch and flipped my swords into reverse grips before leaping back at her.

Shan immediately backed up and frantically blocked the rapid barrage of strikes that I sent at her, using quick sidesteps and short leaps to change the angle of my attacks. Between strikes I would occasionally switch my grip on one of my swords, making the style of my attacks different. Then I did something that most Sith and Jedi didn't expect, I dropped to the ground and swept Shan's legs out from under her. She fell with a shout of surprise. As she fell I twisted and slashed upwards with my left sword, held in a reverse grip, to connect with her neck. Before my blade could hit Shan I pulled my sword and loosened my grip enough so that it wouldn't hurt her. Shan landed with a thump and I winced as pain flared on the back right of my neck.

Shan briefly looked around in surprise at her new point of view until her eyes fell on me. "How…?"

"Combat training. You learn how to kill your opponent by any means you have at hand. There's no room for fancy footwork or pretty movements." I stood and held out my hand for her.

Shan looked from me, to my hand, and back to me before taking my hand. "This way style fighting is… very different."

I hoisted Shan to her feet saying, "There's no one style in any form of combat training. You take your enemy down by any means necessary."

In an instant, I grabbed her by her wrist, spun towards her so that my back was against her front, and threw her over my shoulder. As Shan struck the ground I twisted and drove one of my swords into the ground next to her head. Shan stared up at me in surprise before she scowled at me for taking her down, again. "An attack can come from anyone and anywhere. Always be prepared to retaliate."

This time Shan got to her feet herself. I set both of my short swords aside and motioned for Shan to do the same. She nodded stiffly and set her staff aside. "Let's start with the basics: hand-to-hand combat."

"Start?! What have we been doing then?"

"I've been seeing how rooted you are in whatever dancing forms the Jedi've been teaching you."

"The Jedi masters have taught me how to wield a lightsaber since I was a youngling," Shan said hauntingly.

"That may be so," I said as I crossed my arms. "But swinging a glowing stick that can cut through steel is a lot different than breaking someone's neck with your bare hands."

She paled slightly at the prospect of breaking someone's neck. "Have… have you…?"

"Yes."

"Oh…"

"Let's start with making a fist. Curl your fingers in and rest your thumb over your fingers. When you punch make sure you hit with your first two knuckles." Shan nodded and put her fists up in a typical fighting stance.

I walked around her, checking her stance. "Legs further apart and bend your knees more. You should keep your weight on your back foot, but be able to rock your weight back and forth easily."

Shan nodded and did as I instructed. I stepped behind her and put my hands on her shoulders so that I could turn her. "Keep your shoulders parallel with your hips and your fists between your shoulders and chin. You want to be able to see your opponent, not your knuckles."

Shan raised her fists, but her arms were sticking out like wings. "Bring your elbows in. They protect your ribs."

She did so and I nodded in satisfaction. I stepped in front of her and raised both of my hands as targets. "Let's see how hard you can punch. Jab! Punch! Jab!"

Shan jabbed and punched at my hands, but threw most of her weight into them. "Don't punch with your weight. Punch with your hips. Use your hips to add force behind your punches without compromising your balance."

She nodded and I said, "Jab, jab, punch, jab!"

She did what I told her, using her hips, and kept her footing, even when I grabbed her last jab and pulled lightly. I nodded saying, "Good, Shan. Good. You'll be a semi-decent fighter by the time today's over if you keep up like this. Let's move on to kicks.

"There's four basic kicks: front, side, back, and roundhouse. To do a front kick you raise your knee in front of you then snap your foot to hit with the ball of your foot. The higher your raise your knee the higher you can kick. It's the same concept with the sidekick except that you pivot sideways to your opponent on the ball of your planted foot and hit with the heel of your kicking foot while leaning back. Roundhouse starts with your knee parallel with the ground and strikes with the ball of your foot while you pivot on the ball of your planted foot. A back kick is self explanatory but make sure that your foot passes next to your knee and you hit with your heel." Shan nodded and started practicing while I made sure that she was doing the kicks correctly.

* * *

Jedi Knight Bastila Shan

2237 ship time

I stumbled back to my quarters drenched in sweat and covered with bruises. I barely had the strength to lift my arm to open the door. The door swished open and I somehow managed to stumble over to my bed before I collapsed. A groan escaped me as I wondered why I'd agreed to have Barrett train me. The memory of Barrett fighting in the combat simulator came to mind. Through the entire simulation she was as calm and collected as a Jedi master in meditation and as calculating as a droid. Yet when she moved… she moved like water through rocks, weaving around her enemies with a grace that could make a twi'lek dancer jealous.

I closed my eyes and groaned again in exasperation as I tried to push Barrett from my mind. I opened my eyes and saw a datapad held in front of me. I frowned in confusion and read what was on the screen.

'Shan has good balance and flexibility, but has some difficulty keeping a correct stance and not slipping into a more upright sword stance. Otherwise her footing and arm position is fine. The best way for her to make improvements is for more sparing with an experienced opponent... then having to take her first life in a fight with her bare hands.

'Shan's progress today alone indicates that she has a talent for hand-to-hand combat and could become a superb fighter if she can be reliably taught. The only way that I can see that happening is if she applies for special forces training or if she requests and receives a SOF military advisor from Command and asks that person to train her.

'Part of me hopes that I could be that advisor. Whether it's because of this bond between us or my own self appointed mission to keep her alive, I can't say. I don't know why but for some reason I feel like I need to stay close to Shan. There's something about her that—'

The journal seemed to just end. My hand itched to keep writing, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to write. I blinked and I was staring at the ceiling of my bed. Another groan escaped me and I covered my eyes with my arm. I pondered the journal that I'd read. It'd obviously been written by Barrett and I felt a sense of pride at how well she thought I'd done today, and a little regret for intruding on her personal life. Perhaps I should request that Barrett be assigned to me as a military adviser as she considered, I thought as the door swished open.

I heard my roommate Talana, the only other human female Jedi, step inside and gasp. I raised my arm to look at her and said, "Hello, Talana."

"Bastila, what… what happened to you?" she asked as she came to my side.

Talana held both her hands over me, palms down, and reached out to my body through the Force. "By the Force, Bastila! How did anyone beat you this badly?"

A sigh of pure relief escaped me as Talana began to use the Force to heal me. "It was Barrett. Leftenant Commander Barrett was the one who beat me."

"I know what everyone says, but I still don't trust her. You shouldn't either, Bastila. Look at what she did to you, she beat you half to death!" Talana nearly shouted, but never lost concentration on her healing.

"I wanted her to."

"What?"

"I wanted her to. She's teaching me how to fight without a lightsaber."

"Why would you need to learn how to fight without a lightsaber? You're a Jedi, Bastila, not a soldier."

"I said that to Barrett and she said that she was able to kill four Force sensitive Mandalorians and two dark Jedi on her own. Barrett said that she would 'disarm, cripple, then kill them before they knew that they were dead'. If someone can kill a Force sensitive without using the Force or overwhelming firepower… it's worthwhile to learn from them."

Talana sighed and said, "You have a point, Bastila. But I still don't like her. We all know who she really is."

"I haven't forgotten, Talana. But… if you put that aside you can see that underneath her hardened shell she's broken. She wants to die but can't do it herself so she's trying to find purpose in her life."

"If you say so, Bastila. But I still trust her as much as I do a rabid kath hound. You're all healed so why don't you get some rest now."

I gave her a small smile, saying, "Okay." I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes. I fell asleep to the sound of Barrett whispering something through the bond between us.

* * *

This chapter was beta-ed by Elizabeth Carter and Eltas Aldaron 31.

Please leave a review.


	2. Welcome to Taris

Lieutenant Commander Lara Barrett

Four years ago

1924 local time

" _Shadow One-Three, flank right! Take out that tank!"_

" _Roger!"_

 _I rose above my cover and fired several rounds towards the steadily advancing Mandalorians. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ensign Pasnet moving his squad to the right. I ducked down behind the crippled ACP that I was using as cover and saw that the energy cell in my rifle was almost depleted. I dropped it out and slapped in a full one as I heard a loud explosion._

" _Tank neutralized!" Pasnet shouted._

 _I glanced above the ACP and saw that while the immediate threat was down, the Mandalorians were only twenty meters away from our position. "Säna, are comms back up?"_

" _Yes!" the orange togurta shouted as she threw a grenade from behind her ACP in the convoy._

 _I hunkered down behind the ACP and switch my comms channel to the cruiser_ Midnight Vigilance _. "_ Vigilance _, this is Shadow One Actual, requesting fire-mission! Authorization code: Sierra, Tango, Foxtrot, one, one, seven, one, four, one!"_

 _«_ Roger, Shadow One. Send coordinates. _»_

" _Coordinates: three, hotel, foxtrot, juliet, one, eight, three, seven, four, niner! Fire for effect!"_

 _«_ Shadow One, the edge of that hundred meter grid's twenty meters from your position! _»_

"Vigilance _, Fire for effect! They're right on top of us!"_

 _«_ Understood, Shadow One. Shots out. Time on target: five seconds. _»_

" _Everyone get down! Danger close fire inbound!" I looked up in time to see the first shots from the_ Vigilance _streaking down and something falling from the cliffs behind us._

XXXXXXX

Jedi Knight Revan

1927 local time

 _Cursing the mandolorian who shot my comm-link for the hundredth time, I rushed across the scarred and cratered landscape towards the sound of fighting. In the distance I could hear a mass of blaster fire with explosions mixed in. It sounded like a couple of large platoons or small companies fighting with armored vehicles. Drawing on the Force to boost the strength of my legs I began to leap across the land a dozen meters at a time._

 _Cresting a ridge I finally caught sight of the battlefield. It looked like a company of mandolorians had ambushed a three vehicle convoy below me. Looking closely I could see one soldier shouting into her radio. I felt a brief nudge in my mind telling to look up. I did so and saw turbo-laser shots streaking down from orbit._

 _I drew on the Force again and leaped towards the convoy. I hit the ground in front of the convoy and immediately threw up a barrier with the Force around the entire convoy. At that instant the first orbital shot struck the ground. The blast of the first shot nearly shattered my barrier, but I held it as the next shots hit._

 _After what seemed like a century the bombardment finally ended. Raising my head all I could was a cratered landscape turned to glass. I let my barrier fall and would have fallen with it if an arm hadn't grabbed me. I turned to thank the person supporting me and saw... Myself?_

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Lara Barrett

Present time

0412 ship time

I jerked awake in time to be thrown from my bed. I landed in an undignified pile with my roommate on the floor before we slid into a wall. "What happened?!" she all but screamed into my ear, as if she were trying to over power the blaring alarms.

Ignoring her I untangled us and ran to my locker. I was dressed in my combat fatigues in the time it took my roommate to get to her feet and ask what was going on again. "The _Spire's_ under attack! Get dress, get your blaster, and get ready to repel boarders!"

She stared at me, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, before she fled over to her locker on the other side of the room. I ignored her and grabbed my tactical vest hanging on it's hook and pulled it on before slipping my utility belt on. Then I grabbed the larger of my two duffel bags and tossed it aside. Underneath was a small rucksack, my go-bag, holding all my valuables and necessary equipment. I threw it on and drew my blaster. I checked the energy cell and moved towards the door. I glanced over to my roommate and saw her struggling to pull her shirt on and tie her boot laces at the same time. I shook my head and stepped out the door and into chaos.

The hallway was filled with crew members running through the halls to their battle stations or coming out of their quarters half clothed. Overwhelming their questions and shouts was the drone of the alarm and the call to general quarters. I activated my comms and switched over to the command-net. Almost immediately questions and orders being thrown back and forth over the network bombarded me through my earpiece. Ignoring the orders that weren't related to me I said, "Bridge, this is Shadow One Actual. Requesting orders."

A moment later a comm-officer's voice came over the channel. « _Shadow One Actual, this is the bridge. The Captain's ordering you to the hanger. Reports indicate that a Sith boarding party has breached there. You're to assess the situation and take command of any units in the area._ »

"Wilco. Shadow One Actual is Oscar Mike," I said as I started running down the corridor, trying to force my way through the thinning mass of sentients.

Along the way I was three young human marines standing at a junction looking lost. I shouted at them, "Squad on me! We're going to secure the hanger."

All three jumped in surprise but quickly fell in behind me. Soon afterwards I saw a squad of ten or twelve lead by Onasi coming towards me. When he was within hearing range I asked, "What's the SitRep, Sir?"

"The hanger's been compromised. Enemy troops have already gotten a foothold and are starting to overwhelm our defenses. My squad and I are on our way to the bridge to defend it."

"I've been ordered to the hanger. Can you spare a few shooters?"

He nodded. "Trask, Wazna, Makel, go with the LC and secure the hanger."

Two humans and a twi'lek nodded and fell in behind my marines. We continued down the hall, but this time at a slower rate. It wouldn't do us any good to _literally_ run into an ambush. About two corridors from the hanger we reached a hastily built defensive line at a blast door. A human marine sergeant with a burn scar covering a third of his face saw us and said, "You can't go any further, Ma'am. Damn Sith've overrun the hanger defenses."

"Are you in charge here, Sergeant?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Sergeant Walkens, Bravo Two-Three. Lost half our squad trying to hold the Sith back while Bravo Two-Two closed the Blast doors."

"What's the statues of Bravo Two-One?"

Walkens grimaced. "Gone, Ma'am. There's only twelve of us left."

I nodded. "I'm taking command. Two-Three will stay here while Two-Two comes with me and my people. We'll try to push into the hanger. If that doesn't work then get ready for a warm reception when we're hauling ass back here."

Walkens nodded and turned to his men. "My guys stay here with me! You guys from Two-Two go with the LC!"

I switched my comms channel over to Command and said, "Bridge, this is Shadow One Actual. The hanger has fallen. I've linked up with the remains of Bravo Two and am about to attempt to retake the hanger. How copy? Over."

The same person as before answered, « _Rodger that, Shadow One Actual. Be advised: a large number of Sith transports are on their way. We're trying to shoot them down, but the fighters are giving us a lot of trouble. ETA: ten minutes. Good luck, Shadow One._ »

"A-firm." I lowered my comm and said to my troops, "Trask, you have command of everyone that came with us. You'll be designated Bravo Two-Four. Two Two, stack up on the door." Two-Two quickly got inline on the left side of the door, one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of each member. Two-Three moved themselves back a few meters to give us room. Two-Four and myself stacked up on the right side of the door with me at the front.

"Breach and clear on my go." I held up my left hand and counted down from five. _Five… Four… Three… Two… One_. The blast door slid open and a hail of blaster fire stormed out. I immediately leaped back and out of the fire, but the marine behind me and the first two in the other squad were cut down.

I returned fire as I shouted, "Push forward!"

I quickly dive rolled into the corridor during a brief lull in the Sith's fire. As I got up in a crouch and fired I took in the Sith numbers and positions in an instant before rolling sideways into an alcove for cover. There was at least a squad on both sides of the corridor in groups of two or three. I pulled a smoke grenade from my vest and tossed it down the hall. As the grenade started billowing smoke I pulled a thermal vision visor from my rucksack and put it on. Everything was overlaid with a dark blue color while objects progressively turned from blue to green, yellow, red, and white as they got hotter.

When I thought there was enough smoke I quickly moved out from cover and started down the corridor while shouting, "Bravo Two, cease fire!"

As I advanced steadily I fired at any group of Sith that I could see through my visor. Unfortunately the smokescreen ended before it could reach the end of the Sith's positions. I got into cover and pulled off my visor as I shouted, "Bravo Two, advanced to the edge of the smoke and get into cover!"

Looking through the final curls of smoke I could see five or six Sith troopers still in cover. I could hear Bravo Two-Two and Two-Four advancing behind me while I laid down suppressing fire on the remaining Sith. Soon the smoke dispersed and Bravo Two opened fire on the Sith. They were quickly cut down and I motioned for us to advance. We started down the corridor again in two columns, one on either side.

"Bridge, this is Shadow One Actual. Sith advance team has been neutralized. Advancing towards the hanger. How copy?"

« _Good copy, Shadow One Actual. Proceed to the hanger. Secure it and prevent any more boarders from landing._ »

"Wilco, Bridge. Shadow One Actual, out." We advanced to a junction and I heard voices around the corner. I quickly put up my fist to signal everyone to stop.

Listening to the conversation I heard, "Why the fuck do we get guard duty when the rest of the platoon get to go slaughter those spineless Republic lackeys?"

"Maybe because _someone_ had to hit on the platoon leader's sister."

"Hey! I was drunk!"

I shook my head and used hand signs to tell my squads, " _Two hostiles down the next hall. Probably guarding the hanger. I'll take them out quietly. Understood?_ "

The blank stares that both squads gave me answered my question. I suppressed a groan and silently cursed that I wasn't teamed with a squad of professionals. I jerked my thumb towards the arguing guards and held up two fingers. Then I pointed at both squads and motioned for them to stay put. Finally I pointed to myself, then the still arguing guards, and made a throat cutting motion before putting a finger to my lips. At last Trask and the leader of Two-Two nodded in understanding. Again cursing that the Republic hadn't bothered to teach basic hand signals to regular troops, I drew my shoulder knife and tapped my belt buckle to activate my sound dampening stealth field.

Moving slowly to blend seamlessly with my surroundings, I ghosted my way to the two guards. When I was behind the first guard, with his back to me, I grabbed him by the throat and buried my knife into the base of his skull, severing his spine and killing him almost instantaneously. The corpse went slack and dropped it's weapon, only my grip and knife keeping it upright.

"You alright?" the other guard asked before I pulled my knife out of his companion's neck. I let the corpse drop and leaped at the guard. He tried to shout and stumble back but I grabbed him and thrust my knife into his throat. Without hesitating I let go of him and my knife before grabbing the back of his helmet and yanking it down to my knee with enough force to shatter his visor, and his face.

With both guards dead I retrieved my knife, sheaved it, and radioed my squads. "Bravo Two-Two and Two-Four, move up," I said as I disabled my stealth field. "Bridge, this is Shadow One Actual. We're outside the hanger and preparing to breach. Over."

« _Understood, Shadow One Actual. Be advised, enemy transports are nearing the ship and are preparing to land. Secure the hanger immediately!_ »

"Wilco." I turned to my squads and said, "Bravo Two-Two, stack up on the door and prepare to breach on my signal. Bravo Two-Four, following me."

Two-Two quickly formed up on both sides of the hanger door while I lead Two-Four down the hall and around the first corner. At that time Trask asked, "Ma'am, where are we going?"

"To a point on this wall where we can breach the hanger."

"How, Ma'am? These walls are at least five centimeters thick."

I didn't answer. Instead I stopped at what I thought was a good point and took off my rucksack. I briefly searched through it until I found what I was looking for, a frame-charge. I set it against the wall and expanded it until it was two meters square with a thirty centimeter hemisphere hanging from each corner in the center. Once the charge was expanded I activated the magnets in the corners and let it go.

"What is that thing, Ma'am?" Trask asked.

"It's a standard shaped-frame-charge. The four parts of the frame are charges with a furrow along the entire length lined with copper. On detonation the copper liquifies and is forced into a narrow jet. That copper jet has enough kinetic energy to go through ten centimeters of solid steel from these charges. The hemisphere in the center is a secondary charge to propel the cut out section inwards for more confusion and potentially injure an enemy combatant."

One of the marines asked, "So Two-Two opens the door then we go in through the wall?"

"No we're going in first. Stack up one meter from the frame-charge." I got into position one meter from the charge while everyone else got behind me or on the other side of the charge.

I activated my comm and asked, "Two-Two, this is Shadow One Actual, are you set."

« _Rodger. On your go, Ma'am._ »

"When you hear an explosion and shooting wait ten seconds then open the door."

« _Understood, Ma'am._ »

I shut off my comm and said to my squad, "Breach and clear in three… two… one." I hit the detonator and instantly the frame-charge detonated, carving a two meter square hole in the wall. A secondary charge in the center went off a fraction of a second after the main charges propelling the section of wall into the hanger. In a heartbeat I was through the hole and firing at the first Sith trooper that I saw.

In the split second that I had as I came through the hole I took in the battle field. The hanger was fifty meters by seventy five meter and had various cargo crates and terminals scattered across the floor. At least four Sith transports were already in the hanger and the hanger doors were still open for more. The Sith themselves were either getting organized by the transports or in defensive positions around the entrance, directly in front of me.

By the time I finished observing the hanger my sights were already lined up on the Sith trooper in front of me. I fired twice then immediately swung my blaster towards the next trooper as I moved towards the nearest cover. I shot him twice and another trooper as I reached the pile of crates that I was moving towards. With no one firing at me yet I shot at another trooper before I was forced behind my cover.

By this time Bravo Two-Four had finally come to their senses and were firing from the breach point. I rose up over my cover and fired at two running troopers before throwing a smoke grenade. I shouted towards Two-Four, "Get your asses in here and provide suppressing fire!"

I set my pistol to full auto and fired a long continuous burst from side to side until the energy cell was depleted. I reloaded my pistol while venting the built up heat. While my pistol would cool on it's own, it was easier the hardware to dump the heat it built up whenever you could. Once the venting process was complete I was up and firing short controlled bursts. When I stopped firing I sent a quick glance back at the breach point to check on Two Four. They'd followed my order and were sprinting to cover through the hail of blaster bolts. I swapped energy cells again and began to systematically fire double-taps at any Sith trooper I could see, working my way from right to left.

When I ducked down to vent heat again the hanger door opened and Two-Two quickly ran in, guns blazing. I hit my comm and said, "Two-Two, hold position and lay down suppressive fire. Two-Four advance along the left wall and flank them before the smoke dissipates."

Both squad leaders gave man an affirmative and moved to execute my orders. As they did so I took a moment to analyze the situation. Once Two-Four was in position we'd have the Sith caught in a crossfire with Two-Two in front and Two-Four on their right flank. The crossfire would give us a tactical advantage, but it wouldn't last long once the Sith could organize themselves. The Sith seemed to have at least a full company already onboard and could quickly overwhelm us with shear weight of numbers. And with more transports on the way one company could quickly become two companies. If that happened then we'd be outnumbered twenty to one. Making a decision I said into my comm, "Bravo Two, throw every grenade you have then fallback to the barricade!"

I grabbed a frag grenade and tossed it towards the closest group of Sith troopers. A symphony of explosions rocked the hanger as the grenades from Bravo Two detonated. I pulled one of my two thermal-detonators and gauged the distance between me and the largest group of Sith rushing to reinforce the door defenders. I threw the thermal-detonator towards the Sith and, whether by divine intervention or blind luck, it struck the face of the leading officer. The officer stumbled then fell as the troops behind him crashed into him. At that point the thermal-detonator detonated and incinerated everything within a ten meter radius.

In the confusion that the grenades caused I and the rest of Bravo Two-Four fell back to the breach point in the wall. I'd just reached the breach point when I heard a dull thud. I turned just in time to see a grenade before it detonated. The force of the concussive grenade was enough to throw me against the wall and crack the back of my skull against it. I ignored the pain and ringing in my ears as I shook the stars from my eyes and looking around. One of the marines that I'd grabbed was on the ground coughing up blood, the twi'lek that Onasi had ordered to follow me was clutching the stump of his leg as blood _poured_ out of what was left of his shin, one of the humans that Onasi gave me was slumped face first against the wall, his head at an odd angle. I immediately grabbed the twi'lek by the back of his uniform and dragged him through the breach point.

Once I got him behind the wall I ripped my individual first aid kit from my vest and pulled a tourniquet from it. I quickly slipped the tourniquet over the twi'lek's stump and started tightening it until the bleeding stopped. I turned to the last two marines and said, "You two, grab him and get ready to move," as I injected the twi'lek with painkillers.

"Trask!"

"Ma'am?"

"Take point to the barricade. Shoot anything not in a Republic uniform. Wounded in the middle. I'll take the rear. Let's move!"

My four remaining able body men scrambled to carry out my orders as I grabbed the twi'lek's rifle. I quickly holstered my pistol before venting the heat in the rifle and swapping energy cells. By now both marines had thrown one of the twi'lek's arms over their shoulders and was supporting him. "Don't stop until you reach the barricade!"

They all nodded and started towards the barricade. I poked my head around the breach point and fired at the Sith who'd just finished regrouping. When I heard one of my men shout, "LC!" I stopped firing, dropped my second to last smoke grenade and ran for Bravo Two-Four.

We rounded the corner and saw that Bravo Two-Two had left three of their men behind to wait for us. One of them turned to us and shouted, "Come on!" before he took a blaster bolt to the head.

"Trask, get them to the barricade! You two from Two-Two stay with me!"

Trask nodded and motioned for the two men carrying the wounded twi'lek to follow him. I quickly wove my way through the barrage of blaster bolts flying through the hanger doorway to the two men from Two-Two. "Sit-rep!" I demanded as I joined them.

One of them said, "Sergeant Folly ordered us to wait for you while the rest of the squad took our two casualties back to the barricade."

"Got it. We hold here for sixty seconds then we haul ass back to the barricade."

Both men nodded and fired at the Sith. I looked through the doorway and saw two transports landing in the hanger. I silently swore and fired at an officer trying to rally his troops. As soon as the officer fell with two bolts in his chest I turned my rifle towards a heavy weapons team getting a blaster cannon set up. I fired, hitting the cannon's energy cell and causing it to overload then explode. "Fall back in a bounding retreat, ten meter increments! Go!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Moving!" One of the soldiers shouted as he started down the corridor.

"Going!" The other soldier said as he took off.

I fired randomly at the Sith to dissuade them from rushing me until I heard the first soldier call out, "Go, Ma'am! Go!"

I spun two hundred and seventy degrees to my left and ran for the two troopers. As I ran towards them I noted with satisfaction that the first trooper had stopped ten meters from the hanger door, ready to cover me as I ran, and the second trooper had stopped ten meters behind the first trooper, ready to cover both me and the first trooper as we ran. As I passed the first trooper he peeled off of his position and followed me as I passed the second trooper. I slid into position ten meters behind the second trooper to cover him and the first trooper as they peeled off from their positions.

The second trooper slapped me on the shoulder and I peeled off from my position. As I turned to run the first trooper started firing down the hall. Ignoring the bolts flying past me in both directions, I slapped the first trooper on the shoulder as I passed, letting him to go and that the second trooper was in position to cover us. We continued to fall back until we came in range of the barricade. Once the troops holding the barricade opened fire the two troopers and I abandoned out peeling tactic and ran for the barricade.

One of the troopers with me caught a blaster bolt in the back that killed him, but the other trooper and I made it past the barricade safely. Turning I saw that the Sith were coming at us in force. "Seal the blast doors!"

Walkens immediately hit the control panel and began to seal the doors. We continued to fire through until they closed completely. Once the doors were closed I got on the command-net. "Bridge, this is Shadow One Actual. The hanger has fallen, break. Barricade is indefensible, break. We have numerous casualties, break. Requesting orders. Over."

« _Shadow One Actual, this is Captain Myers, your orders are to fall back immediately. Sith forces have overrun two other barricades and are pushing hard against our defenses. Be advised, Knight Shan has dispatched most of her Jedi to provide assistance. How copy?_ »

"Good copy, Captain. What's the rally point?"

« _Fallback to the bridge and form a defensive perimeter._ »

"Wilco, Sir. We're Oscar Mike."

I turned to the remains of Bravo Two and said, "Gather weapons, ammo, and the wounded. We're falling back to the bridge to set up a defensive perimeter."

"What about the dead?" one of the marines asked.

"Pull their dog tags, strip them of any intel, classifieds, and ammo, then give them a prayer from whatever religion you follow," I said as I stripped a dead marine of his energy cells.

"I'm not leaving Ju here for those Sith bastards," the same marine practically shouted.

"Fine," I said as I pulled the dead marine's tags and pocketed them. "Then you can carry him and his gear _alone_. Keep up with us or else we'll leave you behind."

"That how you do things in the Shadow Scouts," another marine asked with hostility.

"Yes, except we incinerate the body," I said as I grabbed my rifle.

Before anyone else could say anything a red beam suddenly burst through the blast door. Realizing what it was I shouted, "Move!" and took off down the corridor as the lightsaber began to cut through the blast door.

' _Just my fucking luck that I have to face an actual Sith warrior with a group of green marines!_ '

' _Barrett?_ ' I heard Shan's voice say in my head. I tripped and nearly face planted but quickly steadied myself and kept running.

' _Shan?_ ' I thought in shock.

' _Yes. I can hear you through our bond. What's going on?_ '

Risking a glance back I could see that the lightsaber was almost finished cutting through the blast door. ' _I've got a fucking Sith or dark Jedi cutting through the damn blast door! Get one of your Jedi here before these FNGs get cut to pieces!_ '

Suddenly a large blur flew past me and struck the wall. Turning I saw a short blonde haired human male in light black armor and black robes holding a red lightsaber stepping through a large hole in the blast door. A few of the marines in the back of the group opened fire on the man. He lazily batted the energy bolts aside with his lightsaber, sending a few bolts back towards their shooters, as he calmly walked towards us.

"Don't stop!" I shouted. "Keep going to the bridge!"

I slid to a stop in a kneeling position and fired at the Sith then rolled to the right before he could deflect my energy bolts back at me. I continued to fire and roll into another position until the Sith was almost on top of me. I raised my rifle to fire only for it to be ripped out of my hands by an invisible force. ' _Barrett, run now!_ ' Shan shouted in my head.

I ignored Shan and drew the knife on my shoulder. The Sith stopped and chuckled. "And what do you think you're going to do with that little piece of metal?"

I didn't respond. Instead I flipped my knife into a reverse grip and got into a low fighting stance. The Sith sneered and swung his lightsaber at me. I dive-rolled under his blade and slipped my knife into his side where his chest plate reached his waist. I continued my roll, digging a deep and jagged hole in the Sith's side. He swore as he quickly put a hand over his side to try and stem the bleeding while trying to take my head off.

I evaded his blade as a hail of energy bolts flew through the air. I rolled backwards and saw that Bravo Two had halted and were trying to shoot the Sith. The Sith snarled as he deflected the energy bolts before raising a hand. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck prickle, as if he were doing something that I should recognize, before a wave of lightning pored forth from his fingers and struck the lead men of Bravo Two then began jumping through their ranks. The men screamed and withered in pain as I lunged low at the Sith.

He turned to swing at me, but had expected me to come at him from his hight not from down low. I tackled him by the knees, hearing at least one of them break, and knocked him down to the deck. Before he could react I scrambled up his body and slid my knife into his unprotected armpit. He screamed in pain and tried to grab me but I slammed my forehead against his nose, breaking it. I reached for my other knife on my back but suddenly found myself flying through the air.

I struck a wall but fortunately my rucksack cushioned the impact. As I slid to the ground I saw the Sith trying to get up. Before he could get to his good leg a brown blur flew past me and towards the Sith. There was a flash of green and the blur stopped behind the Sith. The moment the blur stopped the Sith's head fell from his shoulders. I looked at the Jedi as she turned and saw that it was the zabrak. For some reason I felt that I knew her, Master Tas.

"Lieutenant Commander," Tas said in greeting.

"Tas, right?" I asked as I got to my feet.

"Yes, Lieutenant Commander. You must fall back to the bridge. Is there anyone else beyond this point?"

"No, Ma'am. Anyone beyond this point is hostile or dead."

"I understand. I will escort you back to the bridge then," Tas said as she began to walk towards the bridge. I pulled my blaster from my holster and sheaved my knife behind my back. I gave the bodies of Bravo Two a moment of silence then fell in behind Tas.

"I am sorry for the loss of your men, Lieutenant Commander," Tas said.

"They weren't my men. My platoon was killed on Malachor IV and the beginning of this war. These men I barely knew for half an hour."

"Yes, I read the after action report of your mission on Malachor. My condolences."

I didn't say anything. Instead I walked ahead of Tas to the next blast door and reached to open it. As soon as I hit the button and the door began to open a hail of energy bolts flew through the air. I threw myself against the wall and fired at the first Sith trooper that I saw. Tas flew past me and engaged the Sith with her lightsaber. Having fought with Jedi in the last war I knew to fire on the Sith troops along the edge of Tas's engagement zone.

My pistol clicked empty and I quickly swapped energy cells. Looking over the battlefield I saw that Tas was steadily pushing the Sith back while the squad of Republic Army troopers took advantage of the situation. I quickly made my way over to them during a lull in the Sith's firing. "Who's in command?"

"You are, Ma'am," a staff sergeant said.

I nodded. "Fireteam One under the Staff Sergeant, take the left flank. Fireteam Two with me on the right flank."

The obviously veteran squad immediately followed my orders. We advanced down the corridor behind Tas firing a steady stream of blaster bolts at any Sith trooper not in range of Tas.

Once the corridor'd been cleared I asked the staff sergeant, "What's your unit?"

"Hellfire Three-Three, Third Battalion, Second Regiment."

"Shadow One Actual with Jedi Master Tas. We're pushing to the bridge an could use support."

"Yes, Ma'am. Hellfire, let's move!"

I nodded to Tas who began walking down the corridor. As before Fireteam One took the left side under the Staff Sergeant while I took the right side with Fireteam Two. After a few corridors we heard more fighting.

I held up a fist, instantly stopping the squad. I hand signed to the squad, " _Unknown contacts, approximately forty meters ahead to the left. Numbers unknown, friendlies unknown. Proceed with caution._ "

The staff sergeant nodded and motioned for Fireteam Two to stick with me. He turned back to me and I motioned for him and his fireteam to move forward. Before I moved out one of the army troopers tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and saw him offering me a shotgun. I nodded as I holstered my pistol and took the shotgun. I flipped the shotgun to fire and set the choke to maximum for the tightest possible spread for accuracy and fell behind Fireteam One.

We reached the junction where the fighting was going on and The staff sergeant hand signed, " _Friendly squad defending the Bridge. Hostiles at platoon strength, two Sith warriors confirmed. Orders?_ "

I thought for a moment before signing, " _Tas in the center. Fireteam One on the left, Two on the right._ "

I turned to Tas who nodded. I held up my hand and counted down, _three... two... one_. In an instant we were around the corner and firing. Tas was in the center of the corridor blocking any blaster bolts she could while we were firing at any Sith trooper that moved. The two Sith warriors rushed at us the moment they saw Tas.

None of us fired on the warriors directly, so they wouldn't have any bolts to reflect back towards us. We kept our distance from the lightsaber users while fire at the Sith troopers. Behind the squad protecting the Bridge the blast doors opened and another squad of marines came out lead by Shan. Shan and her two squads rushed to engage the Sith troops while I motioned my squad to shift fire towards the two warriors.

Both Sith swore in anger and started deflecting bolts. One of the Sith deflected a bolt into Tas. She gasped in surprise as the bolt hit her in the chest before the other Sith cut her in half. "No!" I heard Shan shout.

I readjusted the choke on my shotgun for a wide spread advanced on the Sith. As I approached them I fired at the Sith. They tried to deflect my scattered bolts, but the spread was too wide for them to deflect all of them. Several bolts struck them and I continued to fire until my energy cell was depleted. I swapped cells and vented heat as Shan and the rest took care of the last Sith troopers before I advanced on the downed warriors.

Either warrior reacted to me even when I kicked them in the legs. To be safe I fired a shot into one warrior's chest. I turned to do the same to the other warrior when the hairs on the back of my neck started tingling, then I couldn't breath.

My hands instinctively flew to my throat to try and free it of whatever was blocking it. I gagged and tried to draw air but it felt like someone's hand was clamped around my throat. I looked down and saw the Sith warrior who I'd been about to kill look at me with his fingers curled in as if choking someone. Darkness started to close in on me as I frantically thought, " _Shan, help!_ "

My vision'd nearly gone black when air suddenly rushed down my throat. I desperately drew in as much as I could before I took it too much and started coughing. Between bouts of coughing I tried to take moderate, controlled breaths. Once I'd gotten enough of my breath back I realized that I was on my knees with Shan crouched next to me.

"I'm alright," I managed to wheeze. I glanced at the Sith that's been choking me and saw that he was missing half his arm and his head. "Thanks for stopping whatever the hell it was he was doing to me."

"He was manipulating the Force to choke you to death," Shan said as she helped me to my feet.

I nodded. "Tas?"

"She's become one with the Force," Shan said sadly.

I straightened myself and said, "Consolidate weapons and ammo. Strip the dead of classifieds, intel, and ammo. Reform a defensive perimeter on the Bridge. What's the word on the starboard defense?"

One of the Bridge defenders, a first sergeant came forward. "Starboard side had a couple Sith squads assault it, but Commander Onasi held the line. We were in the middle of setting up an auto cannon when this wave hit us. One of those Sith Jedi bastards ripped the cannon apart then sicked their troops on us."

I nodded again, aware of Shan's scrutinizing gaze on me. "Staff Sergeant!"

"Ma'am?" He asked as he pocketed a grenade.

"Hellfire Three-Three is to help defend the Bridge."

He nodded saying, "We'll Be dead before we let one of those Sith bastards touch the door."

"Good copy." I glanced over at Shan who was still watching me. I raised an eyebrow at her causing Shan to look away quickly and start walking towards the Bridge. I pondered why Shan was always watching me as I followed her.

Stepping into the Bridge I was immediately immersed in the droning chaos of a command center on the frontlines. Technicians and officers shouting back and forth, wounded calling out in pain or for help, and the commanding officer in the center trying to organize everything. I sidestepped a female corpsman and for an instant I saw lush brown hair, cheerful brown eyes, and a mischievous smile. I shook my head and tried to suppress memories of Sateel Hope.

"Who was that?"

"What?" I asked.

"Who was that you just remembered," Shan asked.

"Junior Lieutenant Sateel Hope, Shadow One's corpsman. She jumped on a hand grenade to save three wounded members of Shadow One."

"Oh..." she said. "I'm sor—"

"Captain Myers," I interrupted.

The Captain turned and nodded to me. "How bad are things, Lieutenant Commander?"

"Bad, Sir. The hanger's fallen and Sith squads are roaming the ship. Any troops that we have on board are cut off or too small to make a difference."

Myers nodded before an explosion reverberated through the ship. "Damage report!"

A technician called out, "Sith fighter just rammed the port engines, Captain! Both are non-operational!"

"Divert all available power to shields! Lieutenant Commander!"

"Sir?"

"What troops were you able to bring with you?"

"Bravo Two was wiped out by a Sith warrior, Sir. While in route to the Bridge I linked up with Jedi Master Tas and Hellfire Three-Three. Master Tas was killed during the fight outside the Bridge, Hellfire Three-Three is standing by to defend the Bridge, Sir."

Captain Myers nodded in though for a moment. "Take Hellfire Three-Three and anyone you think you'll need and secure the starboard escape pods."

"Yes, Sir," I said with a salute. I turned and went back out the port Bridge entrance.

"Hellfire, fall in!"

There was a chorus of 'Yes, Ma'ams' as Hellfire gathered around me. I turned to the staff sergeant and asked, "What's you're name?"

"Harvard," he answered. "Corporal Westin leads Fireteam One and Corporal Saveel leads Fireteam Two," he added as he motioned first to a dark skinned human male and a green twi'lek female.

"The Captain's ordered us to secure the starboard escape pods. Grab what you need, we move out in two minutes."

There was a chorus of, "Yes, Ma'am," and Hellfire began collecting what gear they didn't have on them. I took that moment to see what they were equipped with. Two of the troopers had repeating blaster, one had a designated marksman rifle, and the rest had rifles or carbines. In addition to their primary weapons, two of them had shotguns, and another had a grenade launcher. They all obviously had the experience to know that it was better to have something and not need it rather than to need something that you didn't have given the amount and variety of weapons they had.

I walked over to the trooper that'd give me his shotgun and returned it. He nodded in thanks before I picked up a carbine lying on the ground. The carbine was barebones, factory stock. It had a basic one to three times magnification scope, a forty centimeter barrel, side folding stock, and the energy cell was loaded from the left. Once Hellfire was assembled I gave them a nod and motioned for them to follow me through the Bridge.

We passed through the bridge, skirting along the edge to keep out of the way, and came out in the starboard barricade. I stopped next to Onasi and said, "Captain's order Hellfire and I to clear the starboard escape pods. Best guess is that he's going to order us to abandon ship."

Onasi nodded. "Good luck out there."

"Yes, Sir."

I turned to leave when I heard the blast door open. Turning I saw Shan walking out. "What are you doing, Shan?"

"I am accompanying you to the escape pods."

"You're too important to the War effort, Shan. You should say on the Bridge," I said as I topped off the energy cell in my carbine.

"Very well then, I'm ordering you to assist me securing the escape pods."

I scowled to myself and said, "Yes, Ma'am. Hellfire, you heard the Jedi, we're escorting her to the escape pods. Same formation as before. Fireteam One with Harvard on the left, Fireteam Two with me on the right, Jedi in the center."

I made my way to the right as I set the scope on my carbine to a one and a half magnification and set it to semi-auto. Once I saw that everyone was ready I said, "Hellfire, move out."

We moved down the corridor in combat intervals of two and a half meters, each person ready to fire. Shan walked down the center behind myself and the left point man, lightsaber at the ready. We reached the first door way and I hand signed, " _Breach and clear on my go_."

Everyone gave a sign of acknowledgement and I counted down with my fingers. _Three... Two... One_. The point man on the left opened the door and I was immediately in the room, moving to take the corner to the right of the door. In moments we were all in the room, covering it in overlapping arms of fire.

Seeing no one in the room I called out, "Clear!"

The left point man in the left corner from the door called out, "All clear!"

I motioned towards the other door and we all stacked up on either side of it. I nodded to Westin on the other side of the door and he opened it. Almost immediately a barrage of energy bolts flew through the doorway.

"Contact! Popping smoke!" I shouted as I tossed my last smoke grenade down the corridor.

As smoke began to billow from the grenade I called out, "Switch to thermals!"

I grabbed my thermal visor and clipped it on before waiting for the incoming fire to stop. After a moment it did taper off, letting me look around the corner. From a quick count there seemed to be about a dozen troops. I stood and fired at the troops on the left side of the corridor while the soldier behind me crouched next to me to do the same. Fireteam One did the same as us and we managed to take out the Sith squad before the smoke dissipated.

"Hostiles neutralized. Advance."

We quickly moved out into the corridor and advanced to the next intersection. As we approached I aimed towards the left corner while Fireteam One's point man aimed at the right corner. When we both were standing at the edge of the intersection, aiming down the corridor opposite to us, we both turned our corner and aimed down the corridor on our side. "Clear."

"Clear," the trooper said.

"Which way?" I asked

Behind me Saveel said, "Left at this junction then right. Straight for two corridors and the target's on the left."

"Understood. Hellfire, move out."

We started down the left corridor, still in the same formation, at the end of the corridor was another room. We all stacked up on either side of the door and readied ourselves to clear the room. I nodded to Corporal Westin and he opened the door. In an instant we were all in the room in the same positions as last time. "Clear!"

"Clear," Westin echoed.

In that instant the door opposite of us opened to reveal a hooded and masked Sith followed by a squad of troopers. In the brief moment of surprised hesitation on both sides I fired and struck the Sith between his eyes. His head whipped back as the room erupted into chaos. Both squads opened fire causing the air to be filled with energy bolts. I dove behind a crate shouting, "Contact! Peel right!"

I fired at the Sith squad as the rest of Hellfire peeled off and Shan leaped to the center of the Sith. A yellow blade formed out of either end of Shan's lightsaber before she started slashing the Sith to pieces. The combination of Shan's lightsaber and the steady stream of energy bolts eliminated the squad in moments. "Sound off! Sadow One Actual, up."

"Fireteam One is good."

"Fireteam Two, scratched and angry."

When I didn't hear Shan I glanced over at her. She met my gaze and said, "I am unharmed, Leftenant Commander."

Suddenly there was a blaster shot and someone on my left cried out in pain. I spun towards the sound of gunfire and saw a Sith trooper struggling to stand with a pistol in hand. By the time my eyes locked on the trooper my carbine was leveled at him. I fired hitting the trooper in the chest twice. I advanced on him, keeping my carbine Aimed at him. I kicked his pistol away before I heard him cough.

I nearly pulled the trigger on him when I paused. Instead of shooting him I yanked his helmet off. The trooper was human with brown eyes, slightly pale skin, a long angular face, and was shaved bald. He glared at me and snarled weakly, "What's the matter bitch? Don't have the balls to shoot someone on the ground?"

In response I punched him in the face, breaking his nose.

"You fucking Bit—," I cut him off by grabbing him by the throat and pinning his left wrist under my boot.

I crouched in front of him and drew the knife on my shoulder. I held it in front of his face before saying, "I'm going to ask you a number of questions. If you fail to answer me or if I think you're lying to me I'll cut off a finger, working my way from your pinkies to you thumbs. But since you shot one of the people under my command you've already forfeited two of your fingers."

"Barrett..." Shan said in warning.

I ignored her as the trooper said, "You don't have the balls. You Republic types are just a bunch of tree hugging pu—AAAHHHGGGG!"

I cut off his rant by sawing off his left pinkie and ring fingers. I put my knife against his middle finger but someone yanked me away from the trooper. I turned and saw that it was Shan. "What the bloody hell are you doing?!"

I calmly pulled her hand off of my shoulder as I said, "I'm interrogating this trooper."

"By torturing him?!"

"Unless you want to use your Jedi magic mind tricks on him. Otherwise let me do my job."

I turned back to the trooper and asked, "How many people are defending the starboard escape pods?"

"Thirty troops and half a dozen Sith!"

"I think you're lying to me," I said before slicing off his middle finger.

He thrashed against me, screaming in pain, causing me to tightened my grip on his throat until he stopped. "How many people are defending the escape pods?"

"A platoon with heavy weapons!"

I cut off his trigger finger. He screamed again and nearly threw me off of him. "How many people?"

"A squad! A squad of soldiers are defending the pods! I swear that's how many people are defending the fucking pods!"

"Thank you," I said before ramming my knife through his temple. I pulled my knife out and wiped the blade off on my sleeve.

As soon as I sheaved my knife Shan forced me to face her. "Torturing that trooper was unnecessary, Leftenant Commander!"

"Yes it was. We now have a reasonably accurate estimate about the defenses around the escape pods."

"Torture is not the Jedi way!"

"And I'm not a Jedi! When you're in SpecOps like me the end justifies the means most of the time. The moral high ground is just a good place to choose your target. Harvard, what's the status on the wounded?"

"Bizz was hit in the shoulder," he said as he applied a kolto patch to a male rodian.

"Can you keep going?"

Bizz nodded and said in his language, "A scratch won't stop me from completing the mission, Ma'am."

"Squad, move out!"

Everyone gave some form of confirmation as they got into formation. We exited the room when Captain Myers came over the radio. « _Lieutenant Commander?_ »

"Yes, Captain?"

« _The Sith are making a hard assault on the bridge. You need to secure those escape pods_ now _!_ »

"Understood, Sir. We're two corridors away and closing."

« _Good. Myers, out._ »

We reached the door to the escape pods and I motioned for us to stack up. When we got into position I held up three fingers to Harvard on the other side of the door while I pulled a frag grenade. _Three... two... one_.

Harvard opened the door and I tossed the grenade in. There were several shout of surprise and fear before the grenade detonated, then there were screams of pain. I stepped into the room and began firing at the first Sith that I saw. Before the man could flinch in surprise I fired two bolts into his chest and another in his head. I continued my advance, pivoting my aim from one trooper to the next and firing my carbine as fast as I could pull the trigger.

 _Hostile identified, two shots to the chest, one shot to the head. Hostile neutralized, disengage. New hostile identified. Disabling shot to the knee, double tap to the chest, confirm kill with headshot. Hostile charging with a sword. Staggering shot to the shoulder, double tap to the chest, confirm kill with headshot. Wounded hostile on the ground. Double tap to the chest, confirm kill with headshot. Hostile standing behind cover, disabling shot to the foot. Hostile exposed, double tap to the chest, confirm kill with headshot. Final hostile grabbing my carbine. Head butt to the face, shatter the kneecap with a kick, force the barrel of my carbine under his chin, double tap to the head. All known hostiles neutralized._

I was at the end of the room, with a trail of bodies behind me. I did a scan of the room before calling out, "Room clear."

When no one responded I said again, "Room clear!"

Finally someone responded, "All clear."

I looked behind me and saw Hellfire Three-Three and Shan staring at me in utter shock. I was briefly confused before I realized that none of them must've seen a single person clear a room with such efficiency. I shrugged to myself and radioed the Bridge. "Captain Myers, this is Shadow One Actual, escape pods are secure."

« _Good job, Shadow One, Hellfire Three-Three. Your orders are to hold the escape pods while the crew abandons ship._ »

"Understood. What about you, Sir?"

There was a moment of silence before I heard, « _A good captain goes down with his ship._ »

"I understand, Sir. It's been an honor Captain Myers."

« _No. The honor's been all mine, Lieutenant Commander Barrett._ "

The Captain came over the ship intercom and said, « _Attention all hands: abandon ship. I say again: abandon ship. The starboard escape pods have been secured. It's been an honor._ »

I turned to the squad and said, "Hellfire, split by fireteam and take a side of the door."

Harvard gave me a brief salute. "Yes, Ma'am."

I turned to Shan and said, "Shan, you get into a pod."

She crossed her arms and said, "I will leave when the last of the crew leaves."

"Your too important to the war effort, Shan. We need to get you out now. Get into a pod and be ready to make landfall."

"No."

"Damn it, Shan!" I said as I marched towards her. "Get into a pod before I throw you in! If you die or get captured then the Republic's chances of winning will become slim to none!"

Shan glared at me and I could feel the frustration rolling off of her. _Must be the bond thing that's letting me feel her frustration_.

Shan stiffened slightly before she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. "Very well. I will depart in an escape pod."

I nodded to her before she made her way towards a pod. I concentrated for a moment and felt a... a connect to Shan. I focused on the connection and sent the thought, ' _When you reach the surface find a place to hole up and wait for me to find you_.'

Shan gasped and whipped her head back towards me. "Go," I told her.

She nodded absently and got into a pod. I went to the pod next to Shan's and waited for her's to jettison before launching it and the next pod.

"Ma'am?" One of the soldiers in Fireteam One asked.

"Giving the Sith ships and fighters more targets to lessen the chance of Shan getting waisted." I turned back to the entrance and took a position on the right side of the door.

"Rules of engagement, Ma'am?" Corporal Saveel asked.

"Shoot anything not in a Republic uniform," I ordered as I loaded a full energy cell into my carbine.

After a few moments I heard the sound of fighting. I listened and noted that it was coming from my side of the door. The fighting got louder before a group of Republic troops came around the corner two corridors ahead. "Hold fire until the main group of Sith've come around the corner."

"Yes, Ma'am," came the response from Hellfire.

Up ahead the Republic troops were making a mad dash for us even as their rearguard was getting cut down by enemy fire. Then from behind me I heard Fireteam One open fire.

"Sit-Rep!" I demanded without taking my eyes off of the Republic troops running for us, even as energy bolts few by my head so close that I could feel the heat radiating off of them.

"Contact, fifty meters! Am engaging!" Harvard shouted over the gunfire.

At that moment the main body of the Sith pursuing the Bridge crew rounded the corner. "Open fire!"

Fireteam Two and I opened fire, immediately catching the Sith vanguard by surprise. In the first moment the six Sith troopers in the lead were cut down. The next few were also caught in the initial barrage, but the dozen or so troopers were able to scramble to cover. Between us and the Sith was the Bridge crew lead by Onasi. Over the roar of combat I could hear Onasi ordering the crew to fall back.

"Suppressing fire!" I shouted as the Bridge crew started running for us.

Immediately Fireteam Two and I started firing our weapons as fast as we could at the Sith. We only stopped firing when the main group of Bridge crewmen reached us. I dropped down into the alcove I was using for cover to reload my carbine and vent to heat it'd built up. I'd just finished the venting process when Onasi dropped down next to me.

"Sir," I said in greeting.

"What's the situation, Barrett?"

"Shan's already away. We've got hostiles on either side of us and probably not enough pods for everyone."

Onasi scowled and barked, "Charley Three, relieve Hellfire from their defensive positions! Hold position until everyone who can fit are away! Hellfire, get to the pods!"

"Yes, Sir!" Came the response from both squads.

"Barrett, with me!" I nodded to him and we followed Hellfire to the escape pods.

Nearly all of the Bridge crew were away as Onasi and I climbed into a pod. Inside was a bridge crewman, Corporal Saveel, and another member of Hellfire Three-Three. I got into a seat while Onasi climbed into the pilot's seat. The pod door closed then the entire pod jerked, signaling that we'd launched.

Almost immediately the pod started shuddering, meaning that we were taking fire from either a ship or fighter. Something outside the pod exploded and Onasi shouted, "Hang on! We're coming in hot!"

I grabbed my harness and pulled it down to secure myself, but for some reason it wouldn't lock.

"Shit!" I shouted as I tried to jerk it into place. By that time we'd hit the atmosphere and were plunging towards the ground at terminal velocity. I tried to lock the harness one last time but we hit the ground and I was thrown towards the cockpit before everything went black.

* * *

 **Beta-ed by Elizabeth Carter, Eltas Alderon 31, and Maximasdecimas**

 **Please leave a review**


	3. Out of the Frying Pan

Jedi Knight Revan

Four years ago

Republic medical frigate Mercy

2021 ship time

I winced as the medical droid tightened the bandage around my shoulder. "Please wait five solar days before attempting to use your left arm for any strenuous activities," the droid said in a monotone male voice.

I nodded as I glanced over at the soldier that I'd helped ground side through the visor of my mask. She was sitting on the medical bed across from me cleaning her rifle while another medical droid attended to the wounds on her back. She looked almost exactly like me. We had the same nose, the same different color eyes, the same mouth, we both stood one hundred seventy centimeters tall, and our hair was the exact same color. She must've sensed that I was looking at her because she raised her head and asked, "Is there something you need, Ma'am?"

"Nothing in particular." I turned to the medical droid and asked, "Doctor could you please run a DNA comparison between myself and the Lieutenant Commander?"

"Of course, Ma'am," It said before drawing some of my blood.

I glanced over at Barrett and saw that she was looking at me with confusion and a slight bit of suspicion. "Why're you comparing our DNA?" she asked.

"Because," I said as I reached for my mask. "We're either related or one of us is a clone," I finished as I pulled my mask off.

Barrett stared at me in shock as she saw that we looked almost identical. She was so surprised that she didn't even register the medical droid taking a blood sample from her. The droid put both blood samples into a data-pad and let it compute the similarities. After a few moments the droid handed me the pad saying, "Here are the results, Ma'am."

I took the pad and looked over the results. My jaw dropped as I read the conclusion of the comparison and my eyes flew to Barrett. All I could mutter was, "By the Force..."

* * *

Jedi Knight Bastila Shan

Present time

Taris

0733 local time

I groaned as I came to and raised an arm to my head. Then I realized that I was hanging upside down from my seat. I growled in annoyance and reached for my harness release. At the forthcoming click the of the catch I tumbled out of my seat landing unceremoniously on my arse. I winced as I rubbed my abused tailbone and reached for my lightsaber. I looked down in surprise when I realized that it wasn't on my belt. I looked around as the door of my pod opened.

I shielded my eyes as someone shined a torch in my face. Then I heard someone say in a gruff voice, "Gotta live one in 'ere."

Then someone grabbed me and hauled me out of the pod. I was throwing to the ground and saw a bunch of lowlife thugs circling me like vultures. "Sod off you bloody bastards," I growled as I got to my feet.

"This one's gotta mouth on 'er," the gruff voiced nikto said.

Looking more closely I saw that nearly all of the dozen or so sentients around me were wrinkled, leathery skinned nikto. Only two were twi'lek, one green and the other red. All were crudely armored and armed with either blasters or poorly maintained swords. I scowled to myself and tried to enter what Barrett had called a battle trance, where one's senses were tuned with their instincts allowing for greater awareness of one's surroundings and reaction times.

"Bet this officer's gots skills at servicin' her troops. Maybe she can use them skills on us after we break 'er."

I scowled and ignore them as I tried to recreate the sensation that I'd felt while sparing with Barrett. Nearly every fighter enters a type of trance when they're pushed far enough during a fight. Their mind shuts down and they run off of reflexes and instinct. That's when a person is at their deadliest. Nothing matters to them anymore be it wounds, enemy numbers, available weapons, or time. The only thing that matters is survival. Kill or be killed. It's that simple Shan.

I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as I let conscious thoughts quiet. A nikto approach on my left. He grabbed my arm and I let instinct drive me. I brought my left arm up and snaked it over and around his arm before bringing my forearm up at his elbow. There was a sharp crack as his elbow shattered before I punched him in the nose. Without thinking I grabbed him by the throat, swept his leg out from under him, and pushed him down with all my might. There was a dull crunch as he struck the ground with my full force over his throat, and I realized that I'd crushed his windpipe.

I stumbled back from the nikto as I watched him claw at his throat and desperately try to draw in air. "By the Force..." I whispered in shock. Barrett was right. There is a difference between killing with a weapon and your hands, I thought as I stared at my trembling hands.

Someone screamed from behind me and my body moved on its own. I watched my arm block another nikto's punch before my arms delivered several brutal, high-speed punches to chest. Then my hands grabbed him by the head and forced it down to meet with my rising knee. I could feel the bones in his face break before I dropped him and my body spun around to meet another attacker.

My body stepped into the twi'lek's punch, blocking his punch at the wrist with the blade of my hand while striking the side of his neck with the blade of my other hand. My body grabbed the wrist that I'd blocked while my free hand curdled the tips of my fingers in then jabbed the twi'lek in the throat. As he chocked I found myself ducking under the arm that I held, stepping behind the twi'lek, putting his arm into a painful lock behind his back, then kicking him in the back of the knee. He fell to his knees and I watched my hand grip him by the chin before jerking his head to the side, there was a sharp crack as his neck broke.

Then I heard Barrett's voice shout in my head, 'Snap the hell out of it, Shan! I can't make you fight them all!'

I gasped and nearly got stabbed by another nikto but Barrett made me leap out of the way. 'Barrett, how are you controlling me at all?!'

'I don't fucking know! But if you don't start fighting you're going to end up dead!' Barrett said as she made me block the punches thrown at me by another nikto before grabbing the back of his head and smashing his face against my knee. I could feel his nose breaking before Barrett made me snap his neck. I shivered at how easily she was able to make me do it.

I stumbled back and steadied myself as I thought, 'Okay, Barrett, Okay.'

I settled myself into a fighting stance, crouched low, hands at chin hight, elbows in, balancing my weight on my back foot. The thugs circled me again and started drawing stun batons. None of them seemed happy that I'd killed some of their mates. A nikto charged me with a shout and tried to stab me with his stun baton. I sidestepped his baton and grabbed his wrist. I twisted his arm over my head and to the other side of my body before I kicked him in the knee with a downward side-kick. There was a dull crack and he fell with a scream of pain.

I turned to my next attacker. He came at me with a downward strike with his baton. I stepped into his attack and caught his forearm with my crossed wrists, my left wrist over my right. Pivoting on my left foot, I twisted forward and to the left under his arm and stopped behind him. Before he could react I jerked his arm towards me and put it into a painful lock behind his back. I kicked his leg out from under him, but hesitated. That hesitation cost me as pain erupted from my back and consumed my body.

I fell to the ground screaming in pain, my body spasming as excess electricity from a stun baton faded from my body. All of Barrett's training was forgotten as I frantically tried to kick and punch the thugs away from me. All of my struggling came to a screeching halt as three of the nikto stabbed me with their stun batons. As the world started to fade I could distantly hear Barrett telling me to hang on.

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Lara Barrett

Present time

Taris

0742 local time

"Shan!" I shouted at I jerked up. Someone put their hands on me and I reacted instinctively. In an instant I drew the knife at my back and pressed the blade against the person's carotid artery. The person froze at the feeling of a very sharp blade at their throat as I looked at them. Light brown eyes mixed with short sweptback brown hair and stubble filled my vision.

I pulled my knife away saying, "Sorry, Commander Onasi. I thought you might be a hostile."

He nodded as he rubbed at his throat. "It's alright, Barrett. Why were you shouting Shan's name?"

I hesitated for a split second as I remembered Shan saying that it'd be extremely dangerous for both of us if knowledge of our bond got out. "Sorry, Commander, but that's classified."

Onasi frowned but nodded as I sheaved my knife. I looked around and noted that we were in a large, dilapidated one room apartment. Scattered around the room was a bridge crewman, Corporal Saveel, and another member of Hellfire Three-Three. I looked back at Onasi as I asked, "Where are we, Sir?"

"We're in an abandoned apartment in a ratty complex. When the escape pod crashed you were thrown from your seat."

I nodded. "I remember. For some reason my harness wouldn't lock."

Onasi scowled to himself. "Well, you took a pretty damn good hit to the head when we crashed. Corporal Saveel helped me carry you in here before any Sith could catch us. We've been lying low for a few hours now."

"Any word on the other pods or potential rescue?"

"No. We had to leave most of the survival equipment behind when we fled the pod. All we have are the clothes on our backs, a few small arms, and two rucksacks of supplies. Oh, and your rucksack too."

I let out a heavy sigh. "At least we still have something... What's the plan for now?"

Onasi rubbed his forehead as he said, "Honestly, Barrett... I have no clue. I'm a good XO, but I never did like being a CO. Also the only training that I have for a situation like this is the Escape and Evasion training that they gave us in Boot."

Realization dawned on me about what he was trying to say as I asked, "Are you putting me in command, Sir?"

He sighed before straitening and saying, "Lieutenant Commander Barrett, I do not believe that I am suited for command of the ship and crew. you are now the commanding officer of the ship and crew, effective immediately."

"Understood, Sir." I stood up from the bed and walked over to the round central table. "Everyone assemble at the table."

Almost immediately everyone stopped what they were doing and took a spot at the table. With the exception of Corporal Saveel everyone was human. The bridge crewman was a young kid named Weis, maybe twenty years old, with black hair and blue eyes. The other member of Hellfire Three-Three was Private First Class Tasn. He looked to be in his thirties with brown hair and brown eyes. I glanced at my watch before saying, "As of zero seven forty four local time Commander Onasi has relieved himself of command. I am now the commanding officer of the Endor Spire crew until Knight Shan is located."

Everyone nodded or gave some sort of confirmation before I continued. "Other than myself was there anyone injured during the crash?"

Weis raised his hand. "I twisted my ankle when we were getting out of the pod, Ma'am."

I nodded to him. "How are we on supplies?"

The Tasn spoke with a gravelly voice. "We gotta rucksack of medical supplies and rations each. Da food synthesizer works though, so we won't be goin' hungry so long as we lose out sense of taste."

I shrugged in response. "You tend not to care about taste after eating only bantha shit for a week. How about weapons?"

Saveel answered this time. "We've got two carbines, a rifle, and four pistols. We're relatively well stocked on energy cells, but those won't last long if we get into a few firefights."

"Alright... I was apart of a few ops here during the Mandalorian Wars. From what I remember the Upper City is almost entirely humans that are xenophobic and elitist. The Lower City is mostly the poor with gang wars raging most of the time. The Under City though, that's made up of exiles scavenging anything they can from the planet's surface. Last I heard some sort of plague or something was running rampant down there.

"Onasi, Tasn, you two'll come with me to get a lay of the land. Saveel, you and Weis'll stay here in the apartment. It'll be our base of operations for the time being."

Everyone gave some sort of affirmation. "Onasi, Tasn, ditch your uniforms and dress in civies."

Onasi and Tasn shared a look before Onasi said, "We don't have any civies, Barrett."

"I've got some in my field pack, Ma'am," Saveel said.

"Alright. You'll come with me then, Saveel. Everyone else, the code to open the door is three buzzes, two buzzes, then another three buzzes. If you hear anything other than that code then you shoot whoever comes in."

Everyone nodded. "Dismissed."

I left the table and went over to the pile of bags in one of the corners. I grabbed my rucksack and slung it over my shoulder as I walked towards the refresher. Once the refresher door slid shut I opened the pouches of my rucksack. In the left pouch was spare energy cells. The right pouch held basic medical supplies. The back pouch held enough ration bars to last me a week. The main pouch had two spare uniforms, a small shelter, toiletries, a few mines, and some civies. I grabbed my civies and stripped my uniform off. At that moment the door opened. I looked up and, to my relief, saw that it was Saveel. She blushed and quickly went over to the other side of the small refresher to change. We both respected each other's privacy and turned our back to the other.

"We're going to need a cover story for who we are, Saveel," I said as I pulled on a pair of grey cargo pants.

"What do you propose, Ma'am?"

"Best to keep it simple," I told her as I pulled on a black T-shirt. "We're private cargo transporters who got trapped here during the lockdown. We're all Ex-Republic military and I'm the captain of the ship. We've only worked together for a few months so that'll ensure that nobody questions why we don't know much about each other."

"Sounds good, Ma'am," Saveel said as I turned around. She had on dark skintight pants that accentuated the swell of her hips and the curve of her butt. I quickly yanked my eyes up before she could turn around and see that I was staring and saw that she had on a grey tank top.

We both left the refresher and I grabbed my utility belt. I clipped it on and shifted my holster so that it was resting on the belt instead of on my hip. I glanced over at Saveel and saw her tucking a pistol into the back of her waistband. I nodded to her and looked to the others. "If we're not back in six hours assume that we're comprised and change positions."

"Understood," Onasi said.

I nodded to him and we left the room. Stepping out into the circular hallway I was met with reasonably clean floors and walls, clear windows, and functioning lights. "Which way to the exit?"

"To the right." We'd barely gone ten meters before we ran into a couple Sith troopers and a battle droid. The droid was humanoid, standing two meters tall, and was armed with a light repeating blaster. I scowled to myself internally as I kept a neutral expression. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Saveel tense before forcing herself to relax.

"Halt," the taller of the two troopers said. "Who are you two?"

I quickly said the first name that came into my head. "Raven... Raven Barrett, captain of the Halsass."

"And you?" He asked Saveel.

"Tegala Sa'telen."

The shorter of the two turned to the droid and said, "Droid, look them up in the archives."

"Connecting to archives," the droid said in a male monotone voice. "Connecting to archives... Connection established. Searching... Searching... Searching... Searching... Subjects not found in archives."

The shorter trooper turned back to us as the taller on shifted his rifle closer to his shoulder. "Would you ladies like to change your story?"

I saw Saveel shift her hand closer to the pistol at her back while I rested my left hand on my hip, centimeters from my knife. I felt a slight pulling sensation in my chest and a slight twinge of pain in my head as I said, "I'm Raven Barrett, captain of the Halsass. My companion is my first mate Tegala Sa'telen. You're archives must not have registered us during the chaos of the Republic ship being attacked."

The shorter trooper shook his head while the taller one slapped his helmet a couple times. Saveel and I exchanged confused glances before the shorter trooper said, "You're Raven Barrett and Tegala Sa'telen, the captain and first mate of the Halsass. You must not have been registered during the chaos of the Republic ship being attacked."

The taller trooper turned to the droid and said, "Droid, input them into the archives."

"Beginning data input. Barrett, Raven captain of the Halsass. Sa'telen, Tegala first mate of the Halsass. Data input complete."

"What're you two doing here?" the shorter trooper asked.

Thinking quick I threw my arm around Saveel's shoulders and pulled her against me saying, "Tegala and I were enjoying some... private time away from the prying eyes and ears of my crew. Some of them seem a little too interested in the nocturnal activities that we enjoy."

I could almost feel the lecherous gazes behind the faceplates of the two troopers. "Now, if you'll excuse us we're off to do some exploring."

Still keeping my arm around Saveel, I walked us around the Sith and towards the exit. The entire time I could feel the two troopers staring at our asses. Once we were out of sight of the patrol I let go of Saveel saying, "Sorry, Tegala. Us sleeping together as the first thing that I could think of that would distract them."

"It... it's alright, Ma'am," she said with a slight blush.

We stepped on the turbo-lift to street level and I waited for the doors to close before saying, "We're going to have to keep up the ruse that we're sleeping together which means that we'll have to act intimate in public."

She nodded stiffly and I took pity on her. I put my hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, it's alright, Saveel. Just act like we're dating."

"It... it... it's not that, Ma'am. It's just-" she was cut off as the lift doors opened. We both stepped out into the street and I shielded my eyes as I let them adjust to the light.

I turned to Saveel and asked, "You were saying?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing. What now?"

"Well, no matter where you are one of the best places to get information is either a bar or a brothel." I looked around, seeing several familiar land marks. "Come on, I know a cantina nearby."

I took Saveel's hand and started leading her towards the cantina through the early morning crowds. A block from the apartment complex I saw a crashed escape pod sectioned off and surrounded by a squad of Sith. I kept us moving as I tried to act as natural as possible. Once the pod was out of sight I asked quietly, "Was that our pod?"

"Yes," she said just as quietly.

I didn't respond as we kept walking. Not long after we passed the pod we came to a weapons shop called Kebla's Emporium. Glancing trough their windows I noted that they had a decent selection of weapons, equipment, armor, and clothing. "We'll stop here on our way back to the apartment."

"Yes, Ma'am."

I paused to pull Saveel against me and give her a kiss on the cheek before whispering into her ear, "Start calling me Raven before a trooper gets suspicious and we get shot."

"Okay... Raven."

I nodded as I saw a number of pedestrians glaring at us. Keeping an arm over her shoulders I kept us moving until we reached the cantina. The building itself wasn't very remarkable, a utilitarian front made of metal and concrete without windows and a mechanical door. I glanced at the Sith trooper guarding the door before we went in.

Stepping through the doorway we were immediately met with a dimly lit lounge with a couple gambling tables in the center. There were several patrons of various races sitting at both tables playing what looked like pazaak. In the corner of the lounge was a fully armored mandalorian drinking from a flagon and glaring at anyone who came too close to him. Past the lounge was the circular cantina with a circular bar in the center. Arranged around the walls were booths and tables that were barely filled given that it was still early morning. Most of the sentients were eating breakfast while a few looked to be nursing hangovers.

Saveel and I made our way over to the bar and waved over the bartender. A bored looking human in his forties came over. "What do you want?"

What ever's on the menu for breakfast for the both of us and two ales."

He grunted and said, "That'll be thirty eight credits."

I handed him the credits and he wandered off.

"So what now?" Saveel asked.

I glanced around noting several people with the disciplined air of a military person or a shadowy feel to them. "Just keep your ears open. There're several people here that are military or criminal. Get close and listen to what they talk or complain about."

I placed a hand on her thigh before she could get up. "Not yet. After we eat so nobody gets suspicious."

She nodded as the bartender came back with our ales. I took a sip of mine and savored the burn that it left down my throat. Nice and strong for an ale, but not nearly as strong as mandalorian vodka. I frowned at that thought. I'd never drank mandalorian vodka before, even though Ensign Wes and Shadow One-Two had liberated a few cases from a bar after we helped Revan retake a city on Telos during the Mandalorian Wars.

I shook those thoughts from my head as Saveel nearly spit out her ale as she started coughing. I patted her on the back as I asked, "Too strong for you, Tegala?"

She nodded before rasping, "Yes."

I chuckled as I raised my glass to my lips. "You don't gulp it down you sip it," I told her before drinking.

She glared at me muttering, "Could've told me that before I incinerated my throat."

I gave her a small smile as the bartender came with two plates. He set the plates in front of us and grunted something before walking away. Both of the plates had sandwiches on them and some sort of eggs on the side. I took a bite out of my sandwich and picked up on the taste of leafy greens, a meat that tasted like beef, and some vegetables.

I glanced at Saveel and saw her eyeing her sandwich with suspicion. "It's better than ration packs. Remember how they tasted?"

She scoffed and said, "Yeah. The bread tastes like chalk and the crackers are like cardboard. At least the meat tastes decent."

"Past-tense," I muttered. "We're ex-military."

"Sorry," she said before taking a bite of her sandwich.

We continued eating our breakfast as I carefully observed the people around us and tried to listen in on the nearby conversations. Most of the people were complaining about the blockade around the planet and the new Sith occupation force. There was also talk about escape pods from the Spire that landed in the general area. From the sounds of things we were luck that we didn't crash through a building. One conversation caught my interest though; a couple of off duty officers were talking about a party later that the local garrison had planned later.

When we finished our meal I nodded to Saveel and we separated to learn more. I wandered over to the two off duty troopers and made it obvious that I was listening to them.

"What do you want?" the female trooper snapped. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Sorry," I said as I took a step back. "I just heard you two talking about a party later."

"Yeah, a few of the other officers in our unit were planing on later this week," the man said. He looked to be in his early thirties and had brown eyes and hair.

"Well my crew and I don't have much to do until the blockade is lifted. Is it alright if a few of us come?"

The woman looked me up and down. "It takes more than a pretty face to get into a Sith party. How'd you get that scar on your face."

I reached up and traced a few groves on my cheek. "Shrapnel from an exploding console on a mandalorian ship."

"You're ex-military," the woman asked as her eyes widened.

"Lieutenant Commander Raven Barrett, former commanding officer of Shadow Three."

Both officers' jaws dropped before they both scrambled to their feet and saluted me, they'd both probably been raised on stories of how units like the Shadow Scouts had saved everyone from the Mandalorians. I returned their salute before the man asked me, "Are the rest of your crew Shadow Scouts?"

"No. I lost contact with my unit after I got out. Too many memories of the things that I went through," I said as I stared off into the distance and real memories came to the surface. They're flanking right, Ma'am! We hold this position until we die or are relieved! Don't let me die! Please don't let me die! Requesting danger close fire! Lara... Find a reason to live... Do that for both of us...

I shook my head, ridding myself of difficult memories. "I can probably give you guys some incredible stories if you invite me to your party." And steal a few uniforms, I mentally added.

"That sounds great!" the woman said. "The party's at the end of the week in apartment twenty one thirty four in the Barsadon complex. Do you think you'll try out the dueling arena, Ma'am?"

"Dueling arena?"

"Yeah," the man said. "There's a hutt here named Ajurr that sets up duels to bet on. There's supposed to be a free-for-all battle tonight that anyone can participate in. If you fight in the battle it'll be easier to convince the others to let you and some of your crew to come to the party."

"I think I might just do that. What're your names anyway?"

"Sorry, Ma'am. It's Lieutenant Sarana and he's Lieutenant Genliss," the woman said.

I nodded to them both and walked away. I glanced around and saw Saveel talking to some of the other non-humans in the bar. Looking around more I saw a few decently equipped people wandering in and out of another room. I made my way over to the doorway and saw a Hutt that must've been Ajurr on a throne like dais at the back of the room and a number of people in various quality gear scattered around the room.

I entered the room and almost immediately felt one set of eyes after another fall in me. Feeling the evaluations in the eyes staring at me I put iron into my back and purpose in my step. I marched up to the Hutt and asked, "Are you Ajurr?"

He looked me up and down as I shifted my weight on my back foot and rested my left hand on my hip. "I am, Human. Are you here for the battle royal? Another fighter would make me richer."

"I am."

"Very well then," he said as he motioned to a protocol droid.

The droid came forward and handed me an ID card. "Show that pass to my man at the entrance of the cantina at eight this evening and he will lead you to the staging area for the battle."

I nodded as I pocketed the pass. "Any rules that I should know about?"

"No killing," Ajurr said before downing a tankard of ale in one go. "Other than that you can do as you please in the arena. There are dampening fields in the area so your weapons won't do any permanent damage. Now leave while I can still make a profit."

I nodded and walked away. As I walked towards the exit I studied the fighters in the room. There were about two dozen sentients, half of which were human. The rest were twi'lek, rodian, duros, nikto, and even a gungan. Most notable were two humans in mandalorian armor. All of them were armed with a variety of different weapons, some less well maintained than others.

Stepping out into the bar I nearly collided with Saveel. I caught her before she could stumble and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "What've you found out?"

"The Sith are here in force and are looking for any survivors from the ship," she said as we made our way back to the bar. "They know that Knight Shan is here but they don't know where."

"Any idea where she could be?"

"Most of the pods are down in the Under City. Problem is that every elevator down is guarded because of a gang war raging in the Lower City."

I nodded as I reviewed everything said. "I signed up for a battle royal tonight. Depending on how well I do I might be able to get a few of us invited to a party later this week that a bunch of officers from the local garrison are throwing."

"How'll that help us, Ma—Raven?"

"Easy. When everyone's too drunk to remember anything we steal a few uniforms and march our way past the guards."

I checked my watch and said, "We'd better get going soon. We still need to pick up supplies for the others and be back before the deadline."

Saveel nodded and we made our way to the exit. We'd barely gone fifty meters from the cantina when I heard an annoyingly high pitched voice say, "There's the alien bitch!"

We both turned and saw a human woman in her twenties with two big thugs flanking her. I turned to saveel and asked, "What happened?"

"That dumb bitch thought that I was her waiter and demanded that I get her her drink immediately. I told her off and she said that I'd regret the day I was born."

"Don't ignore your betters you low born scum!" the girl screeched.

I ignored her and spoke to the thugs. "If you two want to stay unharmed then I suggest that you walk away."

The larger of the two scoffed and grabbed my right arm. My left arm blurred and I was suddenly holding a bloody knife above my right shoulder. The thug stood frozen before blood started pouring out of his slit neck like a waterfall. I stepped aside as the thug fell to his knees clutching his throat before collapsing. I locked eyes with the second thug and said in a level voice, "If you try to attack either of us I won't hesitate to slice your neck in half as well."

He took several nervous steps back before running as fast as his legs could carry him. I turned to the girl who stood petrified at the sight of a man drowning in his own blood. "Girl."

She flinched at the sound of my voice and cowered at the calm, apathetic way I wiped the blood from my blade on the thug's shirt "Next time you threaten someone make sure that you can backup that threat. Otherwise, you might end up with your throat cut open."

I sheaved my knife at my back and said, "Let's go, Tegala."

Saveel fell in step with me as we left the spoiled girl behind with the man that she led to his own death.

"Sorry you had to see that. I don't take chances when someone under my command is threatened."

"It... it's alright, Ma'am. I'm just not use to seeing that kind of stuff off the battlefield."

"It's alright. I wasn't use to it in the beginning either," I said as I lead us to Kebla's Emporium. When we entered Kebla's Emporium we were immediately met by a bald, dark skinned woman. Past her were rows on neatly arranged racks and shelves holding various goods.

"Welcome to Kebla's Emporium," the woman said. "I'm Kebla and how can I help you?"

"We're looking for clothes and weapons."

"You can find clothes on the left and weapons are in the back. Though... the Sith did come and confiscate all of my heavy weapons."

I nodded and said to Saveel, "You get the clothes and I'll handle weapons."

She nodded and I made my way to the back of the store. When I reach the weapon racks I was impressed by the variety. The racks and shelves held everything from knives to rifles and a number of accessories for the firearms. As I looked over the weapons I heard footsteps from behind me. They weren't the thump of Saveel's boots and there weren't any other customers in the store.

In one smooth motion I drew my pistol and spun into a crouch as I aimed at the person behind me. I found myself muzzle-to-muzzle with Kebla.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked softly.

"You first," I replied, my pistol never wavering from the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah, what she said," Saveel said from the right with her pistol aimed at Kebla.

Kebla scowled before saying, "Third rack from the left on the back wall. Push it up then down hard."

"Tegala."

"Got it," she said before she made her way over the the corner. There were two clacks then I heard a door open.

"What're you seeing, Tegala?"

"A lot of high-tech computers, something that looks like a long range communicator, and a Republic flag."

"Care to explain that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Kebla Wensal, Republic Intelligence Service."

I lowered my pistol, but kept it aimed at her chest. "Lieutenant Commander Lara Barrett, Shadow One."

Kebla's eyes widened and looked towards where I assumed Saveel was. "Is she a Shadow Scout too?"

"No, Ma'am," Saveel said. "Alnasa Saveel, Hellfire Three-Three, Five hundred Forty Nineth Regiment."

Kebla looked back at me before lowering her pistol and tucking it into a concealed carry holster under her right pocket. I holstered my pistol asking, "What's RIS doing out here?"

"Keeping an eye on the gang wars raging in the Lower City and deciding which groups to support. And now that the Sith are here, keeping the Republic informed about enemy movements."

"Do you have comms with Command?"

"No. And I'm not sure if Republic channels is compromised or not."

I scowled to myself before saying, "We're going to have to risk it. Any comms off planet'll be useful."

"Alright. I'll guard the front and let you know if anyone comes knocking."

"Saveel, hang back here and support Kebla if any Sith come."

"Yes, Ma'am," she said as I made my way over to the communicator.

I sat down in front of the transmitter and tuned it in to the Republic emergence channels. "This is Shadow One Actual transmitting on all Republic emergency channels, does anyone copy? I say again: this is Shadow One Actual transmitting on all Republic emergency channels, does anyone copy?"

Only silence answered me. "Any callsign this net, this is Shadow One Actual, do you read me?

Again, my answer was silence. I signed before saying, "Any callsign this net, any callsign is net. This is Shadow One Actual transmitting in the blind on all Republic emergency channels. The Endor Spire was ambushed and destroyed over Taris, break. Surviving crew stranded on Taris, break. Planet under quarantine by Sith fleet, break. VIP Juliet Kilo Bravo Sierra unaccounted for, break. Requesting immediate support, over."

I waited for several minutes for a response. When no response came I got up and left the room. Almost immediately outside the door was Saveel. "Anyone come in?"

"No, Ma'am," she said as she absent checked the reading of her energy cell. "All's quiet."

"Alright. Let's grab what we need and get back to Onasi and the others."

She nodded and left to start collecting supplies. I made my way up to the front desk and Kebla.

"I transmitted the situation in the blind. Let me know if you get a response."

"Alright," she said without taking her eyes off of the door. "How should I contact you?"

"Use secure channel one-five-five."

"Secure channel one-five-five. Got it. What supplies do you need?"

"Civies for the three men that were in our pod, weapons, and energy cells. Also, what armor do you have?"

Kebla looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Armor? I thought that you'd want to blend in with the civilian population rather than stand out."

I grinned. "Who said anything about blending in with the civilian population? I entered myself in the battle royal that's happening tonight so I'll need some armor that's practical but also a little flashy for the crowd."

"Check the back right corner then."

I nodded and made my over to the corner. There were a number of different types of plate carriers and vests along both walls of the corner, all of which were rated to stop a standard rifle. After some internal debate I settled for a vest that, while heavier and more restrictive, would provide better protection then a plate carrier. The vest that I chose covered in a digitized camouflage with a sandstone background and patches of black, green, and dark brown.

I pulled the vest off it's hook and slipped it on. I adjusted the straps to fit my frame and started testing how much the vest limited my mobility and range of motion. As I tested the vest Saveel came over and looked me over.

"I thought Special Forces types like you preferred high-speed low-drag plate carriers."

I nodded to myself in satisfaction about the vest as I said, "Usually we do, but it inevitably comes down to mission type and personal preference. In this case I'm going to be fighting a large number enemies from a variety of angles in an enclosed space. That means that I'll need as much of my body covered as possible while not having to put an emphasis on mobility. I also preferred to have as much protection as I can without sacrificing too much mobility."

Saveel nodded and looked over the armor. "She's got a pretty good selection on pretty much every that we'd need. I've got civies for the men and stocked up on energy cells. We just have to get a few weapons and we should be good."

I nodded as I pulled the vest off. I followed Saveel over to the weapon racks and started looking them over. My eyes were drawn to a rifle on a separate display stand. Glancing at the advertisement I saw that the rifle was called the Modular Combat Assault Rifle. The rifle itself was eighty eight centimeters in overall length with a thirty three centimeter barrel. Apparently the gun designers hand made the lower receiver compatible with three different upper receivers, a rifle/carbine, a light repeater, and designated marksman rifle. Every barrel also had special focusing lenses along the length of it to increase the power and focus of each energy bolt.

I picked up the carbine and shouldered it. The gun itself seemed to weigh about three kilograms with out any attachments, fairly light for a stripped down gun. The backup sights on the gun were clear and folded into the accessory rail on top of the rifle. The butstock, while unadjustable for length, could fold to the left side of the receiver and provided a comfortable cheek-well. But most importantly was that the rifle felt like an extension of myself.

I put the rifle on a table and went through the weapon accessories section. I grabbed a reflex sight with a side flipping magnifier, a low profile forward grip, a flashlight, and an infrared laser/flashlight. I bolted all the accessories to the rifle and shouldered it again. It felt heavier, but that was to be expected with all the stuff that I'd put on it. I practiced shouldering the rifle several more times from different carry positions until I was satisfied that the rifle still felt like an extension of myself.

I glanced over at Saveel and saw that she'd selected several good quality pistols and a few carbines. "Grab a repeating blaster if you can. I'll see how much Kebla's going to charge us."

She nodded and went back to the shelves as I made my way to the front. Kebla was still standing at the front counter, idly cleaning a blaster from the display behind her. "How much do we owe you?"

"Two hundred credits per blaster, ten per piece of clothing, and fifty for any armor, I'll get RIS to reimburse me. In the meantime the credits'll help me stay in business."

I added up the cost and came in at over two thousand credits. The price was a bit steep for us, but was significantly less than if we were paying the full price. "I'll make a deal with you."

Kebla raised an eyebrow and motioned for me to continue. "I'll give you five hundred credits now and you can bet that on me being in the last five during the fight tonight."

She looked at me as if I'd grown a second head. "You seem a bit overconfident about your fighting abilities."

My eyes darkened with regret and pain as I said, "Kebla, Shadow One and I nearly wiped out an entire battalion of mandalorians on Malachor IV. That battalion was one of the best in the entire mandalorian military and we did it with minimal support. If I can survive that then I can survive a fake battle against armatures, washouts, and bounty hunters. If not then I deserved to die with my men on Malachor like I should've."

Kebla flinched at the haunted look in my eyes before nodding. "Alright. Give me the money and I'll put it on you reaching the final five."

I handed her the credits and made my way back to Saveel to help her gather up all of our supplies. We put everything we could into nondescript bags and Kebla gave us carrying cases for the carbines and rifle. As we left the store Kebla said, "Good luck to you."

I nodded and we started back towards the apartment complex. We got several curious looks from the patrolling Sith, but for the most part that ignored us thankfully. We reached our apartment without incident and I pressed the door alarm three times, twice, then three times again. I waited a moment then opened the door. We were met with the muzzles of two carbines and a trembling pistol.

Onasi stood up from the chair he was using as cover saying, "Stand down."

Saveel and I entered as I said, "Good job, Onasi. We've got some weapons and civies for you guys. We've also got a potential source of revenue."

He nodded. "Alright let's get everything sorted then I'll listen to what you've got."

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Lara Barrett

Present time

Taris

1932 local time

"I cannot believe that you decided to do something so idiotically stupid!" Onasi shouted after I finished explaining the situation, barely able to keep from banging the table we sat at.

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair saying, "You remover yourself from command, Onasi. You no longer have authority to dictate what I decide to do. Besides, would you expect a Sith or Republic trooper on the run to be in a battle broadcasted across the planet?"

He sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "I don't like it... but you have a point. What's your plan for this thing?"

"I enter the battle under the name Shadow Scout and you guys bet as much as you can on me reaching the final five. I got a pretty good look at at least half of the participants and only saw a few that could give me some difficulty. If I can get a good enough rep from the fight I may be able to get us some invitations to a party that a number of officers from the local garrison are going to be throwing later this week. Once we get to the party we can steal some uniforms after people start getting pass out drunk so that we can get around without arousing suspicions."

Onasi rubbed his brow and sighed in frustration. "Alright. But for the record, I still think that this is a horrifically bad idea."

"Noted," I said as I stood. "Just relay the immediate part of the plan to everyone else. I've got to get to the cantina."

I quickly grabbed my tactical vest and my armored vest and started transferring all of my equipment to my armored vest. I put on my energy cell pouches, short-way radio, knife, grenade pouches, IFAK, and a water-bladder. Once I had everything on my armored vest I put it on then grabbed my rucksack and the case holding my rifle before heading out.

I made it to the cantina without any problems and immediately spotted Ajurr's man. He was a irritated looking twi'lek with green skin. I showed him my pass and he said gruffly, "Head 'round the cantina 'till ya see a door guarded by a 'nother twi'lek. Show 'im your pass and 'il let you in."

I nodded and made my way around the building until I saw the other twi'lek. He was green as well but a few shades lighter. He looked over my pass before opening the door for me. As I passed through he said politely, "Good luck."

I made my way down the stairs until I came to a hallway and a rodian reading a holo-book. He looked up at me and said, "Women go to the left. Make sure you're ready by the time you're assigned a gate to enter."

I nodded and turned left until I reached a locker room. There were about a dozen women already inside in various states of dress. Half were human, one in mandalorian armor, two were twi'lek, a togruta, two zabrak, and a mirialan. They all tried to size me up until I went behind a row of lockers.

I smirked lightly to myself. Now I was a mystery to the other fighters unless they wanted to come around the lockers. I set all my things down on a bench and started changing into my combat fatigues, green cargo pants and a green camouflage long sleeve. I slipped my vest on and strapped it in place, making sure that the Shadow Scouts patches on my shoulders were visible. At that time I heard the distinct thump of armored boots coming towards me. I looked up and saw the female mandalorian come around the corner.

She stood just barely taller than me and wore the typical light blue armor suit that most mandalorians wore but with red highlights across several plates, signaling that she was a captain back when the mandalorians had a military to speak of. She had her rifle slung across her back and kept her helmet tucked under her arm.

She looked me up and down until she caught sight of the patch on my shoulder. Her eyes widened and she turned pale as she whispered, "Prudii Verd (Shadow Warrior)..." the mandalorian name for a Shadow Scout.

I stood, keeping eye contact with her as I loaded an energy cell into my rifle. "Su cuy'gar verd (hello warrior). I'm Ver'alor Al'verde (Lieutenant Commander) Barrett."

What little color that was left on her face disappeared before she all but ran away from me. I couldn't help but feel a little amused at the typical instinct of most mandalorians had whenever I told them who I was. It wasn't every day that they met someone who commanded twenty one other people while killing over four hundred of the best that the mandalorians could send into battle.

My amusement faded as a human woman came into the locker room shuffling a small deck of cards. She barked out, "Take a card and go to the gate with the same number."

I pulled my helmet out of my rucksack and put it on. I slipped my rucksack over my shoulders and took a card from the woman. I checked the number on the card and saw that I'd gotten gate thirty three. I went into the circular hallway that the woman had come from and started down the hall until I reached my gate.

I entered the small staging area before the gate and was met by a bored looking human man with a data-pad. "What name do you want to use and what info do you want to give the watchers?"

I wrapped a dark green bandanna around my face as I said, "Put my name in as Shadow Scout. Tell them that I'm a former lieutenant commander and a survivor of Malachor IV."

He nodded as he typed away on his pad. Once he was done he passed me a helmet camera. "Put that camera on and get ready. The match starts in about five minutes. Also, be ready for some surprises that Ajurr arranged."

I nodded and clipped the camera on the right side of my helmet. After a few moments the announcer came over the speaker system. He droned on about various sponsors before giving information about the other fighters. The vid-screen above the gate door showed an image of each fighter that the announcer was speaking about. He covered almost fifty other fighters before starting a count down. The moment he said one the gate opened.

Instead of charging out into the open like an idiot I tossed out a smoke grenade. Once the smoke started billowing I moved through it and took cover at a small chest high wall. Looking over the wall I saw that there were at least two or three major fire fights across the arena. The arena itself was circular with three two-story buildings surrounding a three story building in the center. Scattered across the area were walls like the one I was using and small bunker like structures for people to hole up in. Deciding that I'd observed enough I stepped out from behind the wall and engaged the nearest group.

I opened fire on the group of five, pulling the trigger so fast the it seemed like I was firing full-auto. Two of them immediately dropped while the rest scattered. I shifted my aim to one of the runners, making sure to lead my target, and opened up with the same rapid, precision fire. He fell with six shot to his torso and two to the head.

The other two opened fire on me. I advanced towards them, shifting my aim between both of them, keeping them suppressed. One stuck his pistol over his cover and fired blindly at me. I shifted my aim to him and shot his pistol out of his hand. The other one stuck his head above his cover and I put an energy bolt between his eyes. The last one of the group standing bolted from his cover until I filled his back with energy bolts.

I turned to the main focus of the battle royal and advanced at a fast pace. When I got closer I opened fire. I engaged the first fighter at nineteen meters. I double tapped him in the chest the headshot him. The next hostile I engaged at twenty five meters with a knee shot, a double tap, then a headshot. I spotted another fighter facing away from me and I quad tapped her in the back before headshoting her.

By now I'd attracted the attention of several other fighters who shifted their aim towards me. I continued advancing, ignoring the steadily intensifying fire being thrown at me and trusting my vest to protect me. I dropped one fighter, then another, and another, and another, and another. Soon I was at the entrance of one of the two story buildings with a trail of unconscious fighter behind me.

Someone had hastily barricaded the entrance with what looked like tables and furniture. I quickly pulled a breaching charge from my rucksack and placed it over one of the tables. I positioned myself a safe distance away from the charge then detonated it. Most of the barricade was blown in and I kicked what was left out of my way. My eyes and rifle swept across the room and landed on a groaning twi'lek slumped against the far wall. I shot him in the head and advanced on the stairs. I turned the corner of the stairs and was immediately met by a barrage of energy bolts. Before I could get out of the line of fire a bolt hit me in the chest.

I let the force of the energy bolt to throw me back, out of the line of fire. My rucksack cushioned my fall as I aimed my rifle at the stairway. The blaster fire stopped before someone at the top asked, "Did we get 'em?"

"Don't know. Let's check."

Two sets of footsteps started thumping down the stairs with the stealth of a drunk rancor. I remained perfectly still and silent until two head poked around the corner. I fired twice causing both human men to collapse like sacks of sand, unconscious. I got to my feet and advanced up the stairs until I got to the second floor. From the amount of gunfire and shouting I established that there were half a dozen fighters left. I tossed a flashbang into the room and waited for it to detonate before turning the corner.

Target front: double tap to back, headshot. Target left: headshot. Target right: staggering shot to shoulder, headshot. Target far left: staggering shot to knee, double tap to chest, headshot. Four hostiles eliminated, two hostiles unaccounted for.

I advanced towards an open doorway on the right wall in the far right corner. As I got within three meters of the doorway a small dark object was tossed into the room. I immediately leaped back before the grenade detonated. Whether through luck or the thrower's stupidity the training grenade did little more than make my ears hurt. A human jumped through the doorway and started spraying energy bolts wildly around the room.

I shot him in the knee then double tapped him in the chest. As he crumpled to the ground someone stuck their pistol through the doorway and started firing at random. I fired at the hand, hitting it but my rifle clicked empty. The person shouted in pain as I got to my feet and drew my pistol.

I slowly turned the doorway corner before stepping out onto the balcony. The last fighter threw themself at me, grabbing my pistol and trying to wrench it out of my hand. I slammed my helmet against his face, breaking his nose. I punched across his face with my left hand, then kicked him in the knee. There was a sharp crack before I put the muzzle of my pistol against his chin and pulled the trigger. His head snapped back and he crumpled to the ground unconscious; just as the arena was plunged into darkness.

* * *

 **Beta-** **Ed** **by** **Jerseydanielgibson**

 **Please leave a review**


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